A New Beginning
by C-Spider2
Summary: Apparently, fate has decided that I am destined to forever have the weirdest luck in the universe. But I don't care. I'm going to go through the entire Pokémon League, and beat every Gym Leader and then become the greatest Champion in the entire world. That is, as long as fate doesn't decided to mess with me for the fun of it. (Inspired by the fanfic Pedestal).
1. Getting Started

**Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon. Otherwise I'd be rich.**

**Author's Note:**

**This is the start of my first fanfic.**

**I can't believe I'm actually writing this. I've read other stories here before, but I never thought that I would be able to write my own. But here I am.**

**Please review and tell me whether you think this is worth continuing or not. Thanks! :)**

* * *

I wanted to be a Pokemon trainer my entire life.

Actually, being just a trainer didn't cut it at first. I wanted to be the Pokemon Champion of the entire world and have the strongest Pokemon in existence before I could be satisfied. Fortunately, my mom managed to convince me to lower my goals a bit.

Now, I just want to be Pokemon Champion of the whole Unova region.

I know. It's not nearly as impressive. But somehow my mom talked me into lowering my goals a bit. I still don't know how she managed to do that. Who knew that garlic bread could be such a good persuading tool? I mean, it just tastes so good-

I'm getting off topic. Right. Back to becoming Champion.

Anyway, it was getting really close to my eleventh birthday, and I was completely psyched for it. Why didn't I go last year? Well, there was this whole incident with Team Plasma that convinced most of the parents here to not let their kids get Pokemon. But then they got beaten by this one kid, and now our parents think it's okay for us to have Pokemon. I really didn't see the whole point in believing those Plasma people, because-

Wow I keep getting off topic. Jeez.

Back to my birthday. That was the day when I got my first Pokemon. My starter. The start of my journey of awesomeness. I think I might've had a bit too high of an expectation at first, because my mom spit out all her coffee on my dad when I mentioned that I wanted a Haxorus for my starter.

Then the day came. I was sitting in my room, daydreaming about getting a Garchomp, or a Tyranitar, or maybe even a Dragonite, when my mom yelled, "Honey, your starter's here!"

I practically flew down the stairs, grabbed the ball from my mom, and threw it into the air. It opened and realized a ray of light, and for a few moments, I thought that my awesomeness would really begin in that moment.

Then the light faded, and a bubble with a white blob inside it began floating around the room. "Solo!" It cried, immediately investigating the closest thing to it, which ended up being the TV. It squished itself against the screen and started yelling "Sis!" happily, even while my dad tried prying it off so he could watch his Grand Poke Bowl.

I stared at the Pokemon for a few moments before turning to my mom. "What is that." I asked flatly.

My mom smiled sheepishly. "It's a Solosis, dear. It's a Psychic. We thought it would fit you, seeing as you daydream all the-"

"Mom! I wanted to start my Pokemon journey with this crazy awesome starter Pokemon, not-" I gestured to the Solosis, who was still stuck to the TV screen, even though my dad now had both feet planted on the screen trying to pull it off. "-not this bubble thing!"

"This was all we could afford, honey. This is what you get." My mom replied. "Unless you want to wait next year, then we could get you a different one. As long as you're patient." She raised her eyebrow at me.

Wow. Mom really knew how to win an argument. I couldn't afford to wait another year. I had already driven them up the walls telling them what I wanted this year. Either that was really all they could've afforded, or they really wanted me to leave the house for a while.

A few minutes later, I had packed all the things I needed for my journey: spare clothes, sleeping bags, supplies to start a campfire, some extra shoes, and food for me and my starter, which I had nicknamed Bubble after my mom refused to allow me to name it Piece of Crap.

"Solo! Solo!" Bubble cried excitedly, rolling around in midair and performing flips while I said good-bye to my friends and family.

"Don't worry about us," Mom said, tearing up even as she crushed my ribs in a big bear-hug. "We've already done this for your brother. We know what we're doing." I managed to tap out before I fell unconscious.

"Take care, bud," Dad said, ruffling my already-messy hair. "Take it to 'em."

I grinned and nodded before turning. Now it was time to say bye to my two best friends, Gwen and Pete. Gwen was a few months younger than me, with a temper almost as fiery as her red hair. Pete was a bit taller than me, with dark brown hair and a blue hoodie, and probably the most down-to-earth out of all of us. He was just a few days older than me, but he was waiting before he left so he could prepare. His starter, a Roggenrola, sat at his feet and was apparently mesmerized by my starter's acrobatics. Either that or he was asleep. It was kind of hard to tell.

"Well, dude, I can honestly say I wasn't expecting this," Pete said, looking amused. "I thought we all agreed that I would leave first, you second, and Gwen third."

I grinned. "Sorry, but the future Champion of Unova has got a tight schedule ahead of him. He can't afford to take up too much time."

Gwen snorted. "He? What makes you think it's gonna be you who's Champ? I can take you down in my sleep!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"It will be when I get my starter!"

"Oh, really? Sure you're not scared of me and my awesome Pokemon?"

"Yeah, I'm really scared of a blob named Bubble."

"Just wait until he gets stronger, then he can take down anything. I probably won't even need a full party, that's how awesome he's going to be."

"Big talk, coming from the guy who used to wet his bed."

I blushed uncontrollably. "H-hey, I thought we agreed not to discuss that!"

"Guys," Pete said, raising his hands. "Shouldn't we get eight gym badges before we even think about becoming Champion? Or even challenging the Elite Four?"

He had a point, but I was too pumped to really care. "Right," I stated, slamming my fist into my palm. "I better get started then. I'll try not to get all the badges today." I added.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Just get going, Bubble Boy, before I get my starter and send you packing."

"Bubble Boy?!"

"Guys!" Pete shook his head. "You know," he said, turning to me. "You were supposed to leave ten minutes ago."

I blinked and looked at my cell phone. Sure enough, I was already behind schedule. "Waagh!" I yelled. "Gottagokthanksbye!" And then I sprinted down the road, with Bubble floating happily along behind me.

It didn't take long for me to realize that I had no idea where I was going.

* * *

**Update 1/12/2012: Fixed the author's note (finally!) so now it's separate from the story...and that's it.**


	2. Route 2

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Pokemon. Not sure why people would think that.**

**Author's Note: All right. Another chapter. Big thanks to Shadow Serenity 57 for reviewing and giving me some tips. Hopefully this chapter is a little longer than the last one.**

**That's all I really have to say, so…let's do this.**

* * *

You know, when I imagined myself going out for my Pokemon adventure, I sort of expected trumpets to be blaring in the background, with a huge parade going out before me in my honor. Everyone in town would be cheering or be in tears because they were so happy for me. Pete would fist-pump me on the way out, and Gwen would admit for the first time that I had a better chance of being Champ than she did. And when I finally made it to the wild, all the wild Pokemon would run away, because they would see my awesomeness and know that they'd have no chance.

So it was a little humiliating when I had to turn around and ask for directions right after leaving. Fortunately, no one really noticed this except my mom, who rolled her eyes and smiled at me. I started to wonder how she could tell what I was thinking. Maybe she could read minds, or she even had a Psychic type for her starter too-!

Okay. I have to focus. No getting off topic.

Anyway, I figured out that I had actually left town in the wrong direction. We were in Accumula Town, and the gym was to the north of us. Of course I had gone south, but I'm glad I asked for directions. It would've been a little hard looking for a gym in Nuvema Town.

Me and Bubble set off down Route 2. I was feeling super pumped. This was it. The start of my adventure of awesomeness. I started running down the path-

-and then immediately tripped and fell on my face. Thank God Gwen couldn't see me. She'd never let me hear the end of it.

"Solo!" Bubble cried above me, anxiously doing circles around my head while I got up. "Solo, solo?"

"I'm fine," I told it, feeling a little guilt in my stomach. Here it was, acting so concerned about me, and I tried naming it Piece of Crap. "I just fell."

"Sis!" It yelled happily, immediately tackling my face. That made me lose my balance and I fell over. Again.

"Sis!" Bubble cried again, immediately hovering over my face again. "I'm okay." I groaned as I stood up. Bubble looked like it wanted to tackle my face again, but thankfully it didn't. I sighed. This was going to take a while.

I looked around us. We had literally gotten about fifteen feet away from town, and we've already encountered our most dangerous adversary: making ourselves look like idiots.

"Well Bubble," I stated, looking at him. I decided that it was a guy, since it was super-hyper, like me, and it got distracted easily, like me. "What do you think we should do?" I mean, he was my starter. I sort of felt like I had to get his okay before doing something.

He frowned and seemed to be concentrating while he slowly sank toward the ground. Right before he reached the ground, he zipped back up and started to do flips. "Solo Solo Solo!" He cried and stopped, looking expectantly at me.

I stared at him. "You want me to do a flip?"

He bobbed up and down at this, so I assumed this was his version of nodding.

"I-I can't flip," I said. "I'm only eleven years old. I don't know how."

At this he looked at the ground. I could tell he was really disappointed. I sighed. "Okay," I relented. "Can you teach me?"

"SIS!" Bubble was immediately back to his normal self, circling me so fast he was just a blur. He stopped and then did a slow flip this time, making sure I was watching.

"Do I have to do a back flip?" I questioned. "I mean, wouldn't it be easier to start off with a front flip? Not make it too complicated?"

Bubble bobbed again and then demonstrated how to do a flip very slowly. I followed his actions very closely, and after he had done it about ten times, I figured I was ready. I bent my knees, preparing myself. Then I leaped straight into the air, bending forward-

-and then landed right on my head.

Bubble immediately freaked out and did circles around me while I tried figuring out which direction was up. Eventually I managed to get up, and I actually managed to keep my balance when Bubble tackled my face again. I pried him off and told him that maybe we should stop working on flips for now. He bobbed again.

I looked at my cell phone to check the time. It was ten-thirty. Great. I spent the first ten minutes of my adventure of awesomeness getting knocked to the ground and being tackled in the face.

"Bubble," I said commandingly, putting my fists on my hips. "We are going to get to the next town before noon today, or I will-"

Then I realized that Bubble was floating into the trees, doing circles around the branches. "Solo!" He yelled.

"Bubble!" I yelled, sprinting after him. "Come back here! And don't bump anything! We don't know what might be in there-"

Immediately after I said that, a bunch of Pidoves flew from the trees and bombarded me and Bubble with pecks, flying feathers, and a lot of poop. "Pi! Pi! Pi!" They chirped at us. Apparently they had decided that today would be a great day to cause some mayhem.

"SOLO!" Bubble cried again, and he zipped even farther into the trees, away from me and the Pidoves.

"No!" I shouted at him, trying to fight my way through the feathers. Poop was flying like it was confetti; most of it was landing on my face. I was starting to wonder if I should get a helmet or something to protect my head from anything else. "Bubble, come back here, or so help me I will…do something!" I managed to break free of the flock of birds and darted through the trees, towards where I last saw Bubble.

It didn't take long to find him, because he suddenly flew from around the corner and smacked me in the face again. "Solo!" It cried fearfully, clutching at my nose.

"Bubbl'! 'et 'ff my 'ace! I can't 'ee!" My voice was so muffled even I had a hard time understanding me. Then I heard more flapping, and suddenly the air was filled with the sounds of "Vulla! Aby!" and more "Pi!"

I managed to pry Bubble off my face and was met with the image of a angry black bird with an egg shell around its legs. Vullaby? I didn't even know they were around here. A sudden spark of inspiration hit me. I could catch one! I'd have one more Pokemon than Pete, and I'd be able to start developing my team of awesomeness sooner than even I had dreamed.

Then more poop landed on me.

* * *

We never made it to the city before noon.

In fact, we didn't even make it to the city until eight at night, that's just how messed up our day went. I don't even want to go into it, but I will say that it involved yelling, falling, more poop, and a surprisingly large amount of Pokemon battles that usually ended with me and Bubble running away, screaming at the top of our lungs while a super large horde of Pokemon chased us.

So we were pretty tired when we finally made it to the city. We barely managed to drag ourselves to the Pokemon Center to rest. Bubble was too tired to even float, so I had to carry him there. He felt kinda weird, almost exactly like a bubble, but a bubble that didn't burst no matter how you pushed or shaped it. It was really interesting-

Stupid off-topicness!

Anyway, we walked in through the front door of the center. The nurse smiled at us but then her mouth fell open and she looked absolutely shocked. I glanced down at us. We were covered in scratches, pecks, dirt and grass stains, and poop. I briefly wondered if she had ever encountered someone looking like this.

"A-are you okay?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," I half-sighed, half-coughed. "Can we stay here for the night? And could you please heal my Solosis?" I looked down at him. "He's really tired."

"Of course," the nurse replied, and she immediately readied the healing machine. I looked at it in awe. I had always told myself that I would be so awesome I would never need to heal my Pokemon, but right now I was too tired to care, and I was too grateful for her to help my Pokemon.

"Can you put your Solosis in its Poke Ball, please?" The nurse asked. I burrowed into my backpack for a few moments before pulling it out. I was about to return him when I noticed he was yawning.

"Hey, Bubble," I said quietly, trying not to disturb him too much. "I'm going to return you to your ball, okay? You just rest up. You did awesome today."

"So…" Bubble couldn't even finish his call before closing his eyes and falling to sleep. I returned him and then handed the ball to the nurse, who put him in the healing machine and after a few seconds of beeping, returned him to me. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much," I said.

"Anytime." The nurse smiled. "There's a guest lounge upstairs on your right. There's about four rooms there, so you can stay in any of them that you'd like." I nodded gratefully and went upstairs. I picked the first room I saw and went into it. I didn't pay attention to anything in the room; only the bed commanded my immediate attention. I walked over to it, fell in a heap on it, and sighed heavily. This didn't go anything according to plan. I always knew that becoming Champion wouldn't be easy, but this was just ridiculous. But maybe the first day was always rough for those meant for awesomeness. I could completely believe that things could only get better from here on out.

Boy, how wrong was I.


	3. The Catch of the Day

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. But it would be cool if I did.**

**Author's Note: I don't really have much to say for this note, except to thank OwenG2107 for reviewing Chapter 2, and to say that I would definitely be interested in using his OC (although I'd have to figure out how to work him/her into the story). And also to give a shout-out to Owen, Shadow Serenity, and TheRoneBone for following my story. Thanks guys!**

**And now…story time.**

* * *

I was in a bad mood after I woke up.

I mean, I wasn't immediately in a bad mood. I had a dream where I battled Alder for the spot of Unova Champ, and I completely thrashed him with Bubble, and he admitted my awesomeness to all the people of Unova. Then he'd give me permission to go out and become Champion of the entire world. That made me feel super great about myself. My confidence was once again at its pinnacle.

Then I realized I was still in my poop-covered, completely scratched up clothes. My mood went downhill from there. I spent about half an hour just washing my clothes in the bathtub, making sure all the stains got out. Then I hung them around the bathroom to dry before getting in the shower myself to get rid of all the dirt and grass on me. That took forever to get clean. It also didn't help that the poop on my face had dried while I was asleep, so I had to scrub it off with a giant brush. That stung a lot.

Finally, when I was ready for the day, I released Bubble so we could prepare for the first gym battle. "Solo!" He cried happily when he saw me, and he flew at my face. Fortunately, he only wanted to hug, not tackle me.

"Hey, 'uddy. Yeah, I'm 'appi to see you 'oo." I chuckled, prying him off my face. "You ready to challenge the first gym?" I made it sound like it was the coolest thing in the world.

Bubble yawned widely, looked at me curiously, and then bobbed sideways.

"N-no?" He gave a confirming bob. I was thrown completely off guard at this. "W-why?" I questioned, giving him a stern look.

Bubble contemplated this, spinning in a circle as he did so. Then he gave a sort of tilt to the side.

"You don't know?!" I was incredulous. "Then-then why don't you want to battle today?"

"Sis! So, so los solo. Solo lo, losis sis lo." Bubble went into this long explanation that consisted of him saying some form of his name. It went for a surprisingly long time, almost ten minutes straight of him talking. I got a funny feeling that he changed topics halfway through, because he started investigating the TV remote and crying "Solo!" whenever he pressed a button. Finally, he stopped talking, and looked at me with a satisfied air about him.

"I have no idea what you just said," I told him.

Bubble looked utterly deflated at this, and slowly sank to the ground. He recovered quickly, though, and gave me this look that seemed to say, _Are you stupid? _Then he sighed and looked at his Poke Ball, which started to glow and hover in the air.

I gaped at this. "You can lift things up?" I asked, looking wide-eyed at him. "That's aweso-OWWW!" I yelped as the ball suddenly smacked me in the face. "What was that for?" I grumbled, rubbing my forehead.

"Sis!" Bubble nudged the Poke Ball closer to me and then flew around in circles again. He seemed really impatient, trying to get my thick head to understand whatever he was trying to say. I looked down at the Poke Ball, trying to figure out what he meant. Maybe he wanted me to put him back in the Ball? No, that couldn't be it, he probably would've just put himself back in there. Maybe paint it a different color? I didn't really get why he would want that, though. Unless-

"Wait." A sudden burst of inspiration hit me. "Do you want me to catch another Pokemon?"

"SOOLOOOO!" Bubble did so many flips and spins at this, I started to get dizzy. When he finally stopped, he looked like I had just told him he had won a lifetime supply of Poke food.

"Okay," I said, wracking my brains. "What Pokemon do you want to get?"

At this, Bubble looked as if I had asked him to make a time machine without electricity. I was starting to understand his body language. When he did lots of flips and spins, he was really excited or happy. When he bobbed up and down, he was nodding, and when he went from side to side, he was shaking his, er, head, so to speak. When he tilted to the side, he was basically shrugging. And when he sank to the ground, he was either sad, tired, or thinking really hard. And when he got really wide eyes, he was confused about something. Eventually, he just tilted to the side and said, "Sol?"

"Okay," I said confidently. We could work this out. "How about a Pidove? We saw those yesterday…" I trailed off. If there was one thing I was sure of, I would never want to own a bird Pokemon that would have the possibility of pooping on me. Bubble seemed to agree with me, for he shook sideways very quickly at this.

"Yeah, I agree with you there. Um, how about those Lillipups? Those dogs from yesterday-" This was met with another shake. "Oh, right, one tried peeing on you. Never mind. Er, how about a Purrloin?" This was met with a shudder. "Oh, yeah, I guess you wouldn't really like a Dark-type, would you? Well, what about Patrat-oh, no way, one tried eating my foot. We aren't getting one of those." I sighed and fell onto the bed. I had just named basically all the Pokemon we had encountered yesterday besides Vullaby, and I had a feeling that Bubble would react the same way to that as he did to Purrloin. Maybe I could name Pokemon that I knew about in general, but I wasn't sure that he would be welcoming towards it if he didn't know what it looked like first.

"Stay here for a sec," I told Bubble as I jumped out of the room and ran downstairs. "Nurse!" I called out, hurrying towards her. "Do you have a book with pictures of different Pokemon in it?"

"Why, yes!" The nurse exclaimed, pulling out a book from underneath the desk. "Here you go."

"Thanks." I sprinted back upstairs and into my room, where Bubble was still investigating the TV remote. "Bubble! I got this book full of Pokemon pictures so you can decide what Pokemon you want to get." I was feeling confident that we would find an awesome Pokemon that Bubble would like, and we could really start our journey of awesomeness.

* * *

Half an hour later, my confidence had shrunk, curled up into a ball, and started crying.

We had gone through every Pokemon in the book, which was pretty much every Pokemon in the Unova region, and Bubble had rejected almost every single one of them! He rejected the three starter Pokemon that people usually start with, he rejected a Blitzle, he rejected a Drilbur. He even rejected an Axew! I mean, come on! That was one of the Pokemon that I wanted most. The only ones that I thought he approved of were Minccino and Deerling, and there was no way I was getting that mouse thing. And I didn't even know where to catch a Deerling.

I flopped onto the bed, feeling as if all my hopes and dreams were being crushed by the one obstacle I never expected: my own Pokemon.

"You know," I said, looking at my starter while he slowly did cartwheels. "This would be a lot easier on me if you just agreed with me on which Pokemon to catch."

"So?" Bubble responded, upside down. I smacked my forehead with my palm.

After that very productive hour of accomplishing absolutely nothing, I finally decided to leave the center with Bubble by my shoulder. We thanked the nurse for all her help (or at least I did. Bubble just said "Sol!" and hugged her face). Then we went out into Striaton City and wandered around for a while. Bubble floated beside me, staring at the buildings with wonder and amazement in his eyes. Meanwhile, I was looking at my feet, feeling frustrated.

How was I supposed to catch another Pokemon if Bubble didn't approve of any Pokemon that lived here? I suppose that I could catch a Pokemon from another region, but I doubt that even I would be lucky enough to catch one of those. After the Team Plasma incident last year, Unova started to import Pokemon from other regions and releasing them in the wild here. I honestly have no idea why, but they did.

I sighed, and realized that we were in a garden place with a clean moat around it. The bushes were neatly trimmed, and some of them were even shaped like Pokemon. There was a Blitzle, a Snivy, and some mouse Pokemon with spots on its cheeks that I've never seen before. Maybe it was a famous Pokemon from another region. It looked really stupid compared to the other Pokemon, though, so I kind of doubted I would ever get one. I sighed again. It was starting to become apparent that I was not going to just come across a random Pokemon that Bubble suddenly approved of.

"So!" Bubble suddenly bounced against the side of my head, sounding excited.

I rubbed the side of my head. "What is it?" I sighed tiredly. Then I blinked.

Bubble was bobbing back and forth, seemingly pointing, at a nearby hedge. Suddenly, a blue head emerged from it, looking curiously at us. It had black horns on either side of its head with a yellow stripe running down the middle of both horns, and a curly tuft of fur at the top of its head. "Ma?" It uttered, and then it emerged from the bush, revealing wool the color of cream. It blinked at us, tilting its head slightly.

Bubble and I looked at each other, and we instantly knew had the same thought. Without even discussing it, we jumped at the sheep thing.

"REEP!" The sheep screamed, jumping and dodging me and Bubble, who somehow managed to collide with my face. "'ubbl'!" I yelled. "'ts o'er 'here!" Bubble somehow understood me and flew off my face so that I suddenly face-to-face with the sheep. It looked terrified.

"Hi!" I said brightly. "Do you want to be part of my team?"

In response, lightning burst from its body and hit me. "OWW!" I yelled, jumping up. Then I smelled smoke. I felt the top of my head, which seemed too hot to be my head. Then I screamed "I'M ON FIRE!" and jumped into the water, which was only two feet deep, so I had to dunk my head in completely. Meanwhile, Bubble and the sheep were duking it out in the middle of the garden, setting things on fire and generally causing mayhem.

Eventually, when I was sure I wasn't on fire, I burst out of the water and ran towards Bubble. "Don't worry Bubble! I got this-" I stopped speaking, staring at Bubble.

There was a Poke Ball rolling around on the ground, and no sign of the Pokemon. Bubble was incredibly happy, he was spinning so fast. My mouth fell open. "Did you just…catch that Pokemon?" I questioned.

"SO!" Bubble stated happily, bobbing up and down, looking extremely happy. He flew at my face and knocked me over. I starting to think that he knows the move Tackle, he uses it so much. I pried him off and then picked up the Poke Ball, staring at it.

I always imagined the first time I caught my Pokemon. I would feel so happy and proud of myself, nothing could possibly take me away from my happiness. Now here's my first captured Pokemon, and I wasn't even the one who caught it. _Bubble_ did.

…Well, at least I have another Pokemon.

…that might try to set me on fire if I bring it out of its ball.

…whatever 'it' is.

…I can tell this is going to be an awesome adventure.


	4. Working Things Out

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Pokemon. But I did get the games for Christmas.**

**Author's Note:…Actually, there's not much to say here. So…yeah.**

* * *

I can tell what you're thinking right now. You're probably thinking that right after I - er, I mean, Bubble - caught that Pokemon, we went straight to the gym and challenged the gym leader, and completely stomped him to the ground. We won in less than one minute, and we were hailed across the city as the first and best of the next generation of great trainers.

Haha. Yeah. That didn't happen. Or at least, it didn't happen for the rest of the day.

Right after we caught the Pokemon (I refuse to believe that Bubble did it all on his own. I did help by keeping it distracted so he could catch it) - the gardener went out into the garden and went completely ballistic on us. Okay, we _did _sort of set fire to most of the bushes, so I guess he was justified for freaking out. Still, he didn't have to make us replace all the plants that had even a tiny burn on it. That took us about five hours to do, and by the time we were done, my arms were completely sore, and my neck burned after the hours under the hot sun. Although one thing I got from it was that gardening was a lot harder than it looked. I had a lot more respect for gardeners than I did five hours ago. Who knew it was took so long to put flowers in dirt?

Anyway. Back to Pokemon.

Me and Bubble went back to the center. It took about five minutes, considering I was crawling across the ground, and Bubble was actually rolling on the ground beside me. I briefly wondered if he learned Rollout as a move too before refocusing on the center. We got a lot of strange looks from people, but I was too exhausted to care.

When we finally got inside the center, the nurse looked at us with wide eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked. I had a feeling we were going to be coming to the center like this a lot.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I just caught a Pokemon, and cleaned up a garden."

"Oh, you caught a Pokemon?!" She squealed excitedly. "What kind is it?"

"I-I honestly don't know." I chuckled slightly. "Could you check for me?"

"Okay." She held her hand out for the ball. After I gave it to her, she released it with a flash of light.

The sheep was back again, looking around curiously. "Mar?" It sounded slightly confused. Then it noticed me standing there. "EEEP!" It screeched, and it blasted me with lightning again.

"AAAGH!" I yelled as my hair caught fire (again). "HELP ME!" I ran around the room, because I really didn't know what else to do. One of the Poke Mart clerks jumped over his counter with a fire extinguisher in hand. He pointed it directly at my face. "No, wait!" I panicked, waving my arms wildly. "Not the face - mmph!" I was cut off as I got sprayed in the face with the fire extinguisher. I stumbled blindly away from the spray, tripped on something, and landed on my head. I've lost count of how many times I've landed on my head.

Five minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom, clean but with a fresh bump on the back of my head. I half-expected my two Pokemon to be causing havoc in the lounge, but imagine my surprise when I saw them playing with each other on the couch. The sheep had a smile on its face and was rolling on the floor laughing at Bubble, who was psychically juggling their Poke balls.

"Your Pokemon seem to get along very well with each other," The nurse remarked to me when I approached her. "Too bad I can't say the same with you."

I shrugged sheepishly. "Bubble likes me. It's the sheep that's the homicidal one."

"It's a Mareep, by the way."

I blinked. "Huh?"

"A Mareep. That's what species it is. And it's a girl." She noticed my confused look. "You did want to know what kind of Pokemon it was, right?"

"Er, yeah. I did." I stared at my second Pokemon. A Mareep. Not exactly what I had been hoping for (~cough~, Axew, ~cough~), but at least it wasn't a Patrat.

I walked over to my team. This was it. The true start of my awesome journey. We had a few struggles at the beginning, but now the awesomeness began. We were going to go out there, and kick butt.

That was what was going through my mind right before Mareep noticed me coming, screamed "MAR!" and blasted me with lightning. Fortunately, my hair did not catch fire this time. Unfortunately, my pants did.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I yelled as the awesome Poke clerk ran over again with his fire extinguisher. After an even longer period of time, I walked into the lounge with a new pair of pants this time. "Bubble! Can you tell Mareep to not blast me this time? Please?"

"So!" Bubble bobbed in confirmation and started to talk with my second Pokemon. I think they worked something out, because Bubble started hugging the TV again. I swear he's developing an obsession or something.

I walked forward very carefully, ready to jump for cover if the Mareep so much as blinked in my direction. It did a couple times, and it took several minutes for me to climb out of the healing machine before I finally reached the couch.

"Hi, Mareep." I said tentatively, ready for a Ferroseed to go off. "Er, I know you don't like me, but since I captured you-er, since Bubble and I captured you, I mean," I quickly corrected, noticing Bubble glaring at me. "Now, we sort of have to start working together. So, how about we just forget about me and Bubble catching you, and you setting my hair and pants on fire, and we just start over?"

The Mareep seemed to mull this over while I sat there trying to be patient. Just as I was going to burst and ask if it had made up its mind yet, she nodded and said, "Reep."

A sigh of relief flowed from me. "That's awesome!" I said, standing up on the couch. "Now, Mareep, blow up that TV!" I didn't really want it to blow the TV up, but I just felt that this event commemorated an explosion of some sort.

Mareep looked up at me, then shook her head and stated "Ma," before gathering her wool and settling down on the couch.

I stared down at her. "No? Why not?" Well, actually, now that I thought about it, there were probably a lot of good reasons why Mareep wouldn't blow up a TV, but still-

"So!" Bubble sounded like he was giving an order to Mareep. That did surprise me, but what surprised me more was that Mareep leapt to her feet, happily shouted "Mareep!", and promptly blasted the television with a bolt of lightning.

The other trainers completely freaked out on me, and kicked me and my Pokemon out of the building. I stared numbly at Mareep. There was no way… "Mareep, can you roll over for me?" I was met with a sharp turn of the head and an "Eep." to reinforce it. I sighed and turned Bubble. "Hey, Bubble." I said, feeling completely idiotic. It just didn't seem possible… "Could you tell Mareep to roll over for me? Please?" I added. It was probably just my imagination. I mean, how could that be possible-

"So! Los, Sis!" Bubble cried, and Mareep immediately responded, rolling over on the ground, looking adoringly up at Bubble.

Oh.

My.

Sweet.

Sewaddles.

My second Pokemon would only listen to my starter Pokemon.

Well, this is terrific. How was I supposed to battle now? Always keep Bubble out whenever Mareep's out in a battle and have him order for me? Actually, I pretty much only returned him to his ball once or twice, and that was just to heal him at a center, so-

I smacked myself in the face. Why am I actually thinking about this?

"Los?" Bubble asked, looking concerned. Mareep just snorted and turned her head away from me.

I sighed and knelt next to my second Pokemon. "Nothing's wrong, Bubble." I said, guessing his question. "It's just this little rebel that's thrown a pooping Pidove in my plans." He shuddered at this. He still didn't like bird Pokemon, I could tell.

I looked at Mareep. "You know what? You need a name. Oh, c'mon," I protested as she turned her head. "It's only fair. Besides," I added as a sudden insight came to me. "Bubble has his own name. Don't you want to be like him?"

Mareep glared at me and Bubble started blushing before doing 360's in mid-air. I grinned. This was too fun. After a short pause, Mareep nodded and said, all the while glaring at me, "Eep."

"Okay," I leaned back on my hands and stared at the sky. "How about Sheep? Because you're a-er, I was just kidding!" I stammered as flashes of electricity sparked across her wool. "Um, Wool? Cause-never mind, that's still bad. Um, Yellow? I'm sorry, I'm really bad with names-" Sparks were now literally flying off of Mareep as she glared at me.

I looked over at Bubble. Even though I tried naming him Piece of Crap before my mom straightened me out, because of my disappointment, I had decided to name him Bubble. Why did I call him that? Because…because…because that had been my first impression of him: a hyperactive bubble. I looked at Mareep, thinking. What had been my first impression of her?

"Shocker?" I asked. "Because you took me by surprise?"

She briefly considered it before shaking her head. The sparks started to die out, though. Maybe she was starting to calm down.

"Rose? Because you poked out of a bush like a flower?" This was met with a hesitant shake of the head. "Um, Gwen? Because you remind me of one of my friends?" Another negative, though this one she seemed much more hesitant about. I racked my brains. What name could she possibly approve of that I could think of? What had I been thinking about before I even saw her? I had been thinking of what Pokemon I should catch, one that I was wishing for, one that I was-

"Hope." I finally decided. "Because you came when I was hoping for another Pokemon to become friends with."

Mareep looked up at me in surprise, before looking down at the ground, frowning. Eventually, she gave a tiny nod.

"Hope? You want that to be your name?" I blinked. She nodded again. I smiled. "All right, from now on, you're Hope." I petted her head, but she pulled away, hissing "Ree!" at me. "Okay, okay." I said, raising my hands up, though I was still smiling. Maybe she was hostile to me now, but I had a feeling she would warm up to me in time.

I took stock of our team. Bubble the hyperactive Solosis, Hope the rebellious Mareep, and me, the daydreaming trainer. I felt a surge of hope go through me. This was the most confidence that I had ever felt in my entire journey. Maybe our team wasn't perfect, and maybe we needed to go through some work, but I knew for sure that one day, we were going to be awesome.

I stood up, causing curious looks from Bubble and ignorance from Hope. "Bubble, Hope." I said, slamming my fist into my palm. "Let's go get that Gym leader!" And with that, I turned and sprinted towards the gym.

"So!" Bubble cried happily, spinning after me. "Reep!" Hope cried, forcing herself to catch up to me and giving me a quick reprimanding shock. I was too happy to care, though. This right here was the true start of my journey. I knew it in my soul, and nothing was going to take that from me.

Of course, the gym leaders quickly gave me a sense of reality after that.

* * *

**Update 1/3/2012: Fixed some errors that affTwil was kind enough to point out for me. Thanks affTwill, for pointing those mistakes out and giving me some tips and pointers too! It's very much appreciated.**


	5. Not What You Expect

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, I would've made the remakes for Ruby and Sapphire already.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long update. I've had a lot going on with school and sports lately, so expect infrequent updates for a while.**

**Warning! This chapter has less humor and a lot more angst in it, so take that into consideration while reading this chapter. Though your definition of 'more angst' might be different than mine, but it's still there. I think.**

**Anyway, this is the longest chapter so far. Hope you enjoy!**

I stared at the bronze and silver building in front of me. Rows of windows ran all the way across the building, and the mahogany doors had huge knockers on it, with a few stairs in front of it. The design of it seemed almost ancient, as if it were made hundreds of years ago. But for once my mind didn't wander and think about who designed this building. I was completely focused on the two stands in front of the building. Two golden stands with Poke Balls sitting on top of them.

I stood in front of the gym with my hands on my hips, looking at it with reverence. This was my first test. My first real challenge as a trainer. Then I looked at Bubble and Hope. No, this is _our_ first challenge as a _team_. A sort of subdued feeling was in the air. Even Bubble seemed to notice it, because he wasn't doing flips or moving at all. He just stared at the gym with me, a sort of awed look in his eye. I could tell we were both thinking the same thing: this is it.

Unfortunately, Hope didn't seem to get it, because she kept head butting my leg. I had a feeling she was annoyed at us.

'Okay, okay." I told her after a particularly hard hit. "We'll go inside. Do you want to go back in your ball, or no?" She nodded her head, and I returned her, setting the ball inside my backpack. I swear I saw Bubble look a little disappointed, but when I turned to him he let out a happy "So!" and hugged my face.

I pried him off, groaning a little. This was starting to happen waaay too often. "All right Bubble," I said, looking at him seriously. "This is it. Our first gym. Do you want to stay out with me, or go back in your ball?" I knew what he would choose, though. And, sure enough, he let out a quick "Solo!" and spun around me a few times. He was going to stay out.

"All right, then!" I exclaimed, smacking my fist into my palm. "Let's go then!" And with that, I turned and sprinted up the stairs to the door. Bubble was right beside me, with a determined look on his face. My arms developed goose bumps. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest. This was it. I reached the last step and immediately burst through the doors, ready for anything-

-and then immediately thought that I ran into the wrong building.

The inside of the building was a restaurant. There were tables set all over the room, with fancy cloth and silverware on them. Some even had glass vases with flowers in them. Waiters were waiting tables with their fancy uniforms, holding trays of food with their arms. I've always wondered how they managed to balance those huge things full of food. I tried it once at home and - well, let's just say that I made a bit of mess. Though I still don't know how the broccoli ended up inside the light bulb.

Anyway, back to the restaurant.

So Me and Bubble were sort of standing in the doorway going '_Oh crap, we just ran into the wrong building,_' and were trying to figure out how to leave while managing to not completely embarrass ourselves again, when suddenly this waiter just appeared out of nowhere. "Hello!" He smiled at us cheerily. I was guessing he was about nineteen, with wavy blue hair that sort of covered the right side of his face. His eyes were a sapphire blue, and he was wearing a blue tie. "Welcome to the Striaton Restaurant!" The waiter continued. "Here we serve only the finest food available, not only to the good citizens of this city, but we also serve the best hand-cooked Pokemon food in all of Unova." He gestured us to come in. "Let me serve you to a table."

"Er, actually, sir, I sort of ran into the wrong building." I felt so embarrassed. Bubble doing back flips in mid-air didn't help. "You see, I'm looking for the gym-"

The waiter laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I know where the gym is." He chuckled.

I felt a huge wave of relief come over me. "Oh thank you so much! Can you point me in the right direction?"

"Of course," the waiter smiled again. "But first, please try our exquisite food!" Then he grabbed my arm and started leading me to a table.

"No-wait, sir please! I just want to challenge the gym leader!" I protested, trying to dig my heels into the ground to slow the waiter down, but he wasn't even fazed.

"Of course you do! But you can't battle on an empty stomach!" The waiter replied. We got to the table and he plopped me and Bubble down on separate chairs. I tried getting back up, but he quickly shoved me back onto the seat. "Ah, ah, ah." He said, wagging his finger. "No leaving until you eat something."

"But…the gym leader…" I protested weakly. I actually was pretty hungry, but I couldn't wait until tomorrow to battle the gym leader. I had to do it now.

"So!" Bubble agreed with me, glaring up at the waiter. He was trying to look really angry at him, but the best he could do was a pouting expression.

The waiter grinned broadly. I had a feeling that he was having some private joke at my expense. "Don't worry," he said in a confident tone. "I have a feeling that the gym leader won't be going anywhere for the time being." And with that he suddenly plopped two menus down and left with "I'll give you some time to look at the menu."

I blinked several times, trying to figure out if what had just happened was real. I looked over at Bubble who was busy pouring over the menu. Or busy hugging the menu. "You've got to be kidding me." I sighed and shook my head before opening my own menu and looking through it. Thankfully they didn't have anything too fancy, so when the waiter came back I told him I wanted a hot dog with extra fries. Bubble couldn't order for himself, but judging from the way he was hugging the picture I guessed he wanted a prime rib. I managed to convince him to try some fries instead, since the rib was bigger than Bubble. The waiter took our orders and then left, coming back in a few minutes with the food.

Bubble and I practically gorged ourselves on the food. I had no idea it was physically possible to be so hungry. After about a minute we were stretched lazily across our chairs, our plates completely clean of anything.

"You know, if you were in an eating contest, you two would probably win." Our waiter joked. "I've never seen anyone eat so fast in my entire life, and I live with my twin brothers."

I opened my mouth to respond, and a huge belch came out instead. Everyone in the restaurant looked over at me, glaring. I blushed and stammered out an apology, but I don't think anyone heard me over the sound of the waiter rolling on the floor laughing.

Eventually he stopped, though he chuckled for a few minutes afterward. He stood up, wiping tears from his eyes, and said, "Well, this was probably one of the interesting days I could've picked a day to work on."

I had no idea how to respond, so I just blushed.

"Now, about your payment."

Oh crap.

I didn't have any money.

"Uh…" I said, wide-eyed. "Um, I'm sorry, but I don't have any money." I sank lower into my seat, hoping to avoid injury as much as possible.

The waiter blinked at me, not understanding at first. Then a look of comprehension dawned on his face. I closed my eyes and averted my head, convinced that he would explode into a fit of anger and literally kick me out of the restaurant.

Then he laughed. "Oh, don't worry." He said easily. "You don't have to pay with cash."

I blinked. "I-I don't?" I couldn't believe it. Things were actually going my way for once.

"No. You just have to pay differently. I'll be right back." And with that, he turned and marched to the kitchen door and disappeared through it.

Bubble and I glanced nervously at each other. I was all about making up for my lack of money, but there was a limit that I would do. If it involved going on this huge quest to find the rare golden apple that can only be used to make the ultimate stew, I would just ask if I could just take out the trash instead.

Suddenly there was a loud clang in the kitchen. Bubble and I jumped and stared at the door. I started to get nervous. What was going on?

And then a huge shout boomed from the kitchen, so loud that Bubble and I fell off our chairs.

"WHY CAN'T I CHALLENGE HIM?! I WANT TO SEE THE POWER OF OUR PASSION FOR POKEMON!"

There was some other yelling going on, and I could hear the other waiter yelling too, but they were all drowned out by that one guy.

"WHY NOT?! DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT THIS GUY WILL BE INTIMIDATED BY ME? I'M THE NICEST GUY HERE!"

I paled. From what I could tell, that guy's existence was like a sonic boom. It was impossible not to notice him.

"YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS OF MY FIERY PASSION!" The loud voice continued. "NO ONE CAN MATCH MY - OWWWW! OKAY, OKAY, I'LL STOP YELLING! JEEZ!"

Then three people emerged from the kitchen, led by the waiter that had served me before. He was dragging another waiter in by the ear. He looked a lot like the waiter, except where the waiter had wavy blue hair and sapphire eyes, this guy had gelled up red hair and fiery eyes. He was groaning and glaring at the waiter as he was dragged across the floor. Walking behind them was another waiter that looked like the first two. Instead of red spiky hair or wavy blue hair, he had green hair that spiked up a little in the front. He had emerald green eyes, and he was wearing a slightly amused expression as he watched the redhead being dragged across the floor. They all seemed to be around the same age. I wondered if they were related.

They walked over to my table and sat at the table, the green waiter pulling up a chair from another table. "So," my waiter said, leaning back in his chair and studying me. "You want to challenge the gym leader." He said it like it was a fact, not a question.

"Yeah," I answered immediately. Feeling a little bolder, I added, "But now it's probably too late to go challenge them, since you kept me here."

I immediately regretted saying that. I figured they'd yell at me or something.

My waiter laughed this off with a wave of his hand. "Oh, I think they're still taking challengers. The real question is if they'll accept your challenge."

I felt like a brick had just been thrown in my face, exploded, and then turned into confetti all at the same time. Bubble looked equally stunned. "What?" I somehow managed to say. "But-don't they accept any Trainer that challenges them?"

The gelled-up red waiter punched the table and pointed a finger at me. "Of course not!" He exclaimed. I winced. Even though he was talking at a normal voice - apparently - it still felt like he was shouting. "We don't accept-er, I mean," he backtracked hastily after a glare from my waiter "We know what we're talking about! They-I mean, he only accepts those worthy of challenging them! Trust us, we're friends of his!" He grinned enthusiastically at me before leaning to the green waiter and whispering loudly, "Was that good? Do you think he fell for it?" My waiter smacked himself in the face while the green waiter shook his head exasperatedly.

I looked around at them, something pulling at my brain. Wasn't there more than one leader for Striaton City? And weren't they all brothers or something? And wasn't their gym based on a restaurant? And didn't they have hair that went with Fire, Grass, and Water colors?

"Wait a minute," I said aloud. "This is the gym?"

"SOL?!" Bubble looked around with wide eyes, looking like someone had told him that March 2 was Christmas.

"Finally!" My waiter threw his hands into the air. "I kinda thought that you'd know this place was a gym, considering the stands in front of the building, but it took you forever to figure it out!"

"So…you're-"

"I'm Cress." My waiter pointed to himself. "Water's my specialty. Pleased to finally introduce myself."

"I'm Cilan." The green waiter said shyly. "I like Grass-types. Um…hi."

"And I'm CHILI!" The red waiter bellowed, jerking a thumb at himself. "And my passion for Pokemon burns like the flames of a Fire-type! We shall become friends through our Pokemon battles!" Bubble shrunk away from him and hid behind my shoulder.

"But-" I looked around me, confused. "It doesn't look like a gym at all. Where's the battle arena? Where's the spotlights? Where's the huge crowds of people?"

All three of the leaders looked at each other before turning back to me. "You're looking for Elesa's gym." Cress told me. "And besides, do you think we'd just battle you in the middle of everyone eating? There's an arena behind that curtain." He gestured to a huge curtain in the back of the room that I apparently missed noticing before. "It's nothing too fancy, but it's enough."

"Then let's go!" I said, springing to my feet. Bubble was right with me, letting out an ecstatic "So!" What are we waiting for?" I continued. "Let's have a battle right now and-"

"Not so fast," Cress said, waving a finger. "Like I said before, how do you know we'll accept your challenge?"

I deflated, staring at Cress. What was this? What possible reason could there be for them to not accept my challenge? Bubble looked at Cress with a sort of confusion on his face.

"HEY!" Chili stood up angrily and pointed a finger at Cress. "That is unacceptable! This kid has the intensity that a lot of other Trainers don't have in their first gym battle! Other Trainers don't have much intensity for the first gym, but this one has the spark of greatness inside of him-"

I felt a warmth spread inside me. Even a gym leader recognized my awesomeness! I really was meant to become Champion!

"-even if he is a little short!"

The warmth instantly got snuffed out, replaced by annoyance. I wasn't short!

"We've done this before, Chili." Cress sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"And it's been completely unnecessary!" Chili puffed out his chest and pointed accusingly at Cress. I had a feeling he just did that for the heck of it. "No one's ever done something bad by going through all the gyms! Name one person that has beaten all the leaders and done terrible things to Unova!"

"N." Cilan suddenly joined the conversation. I had actually forgotten he was there. En? What kind of name was that? Who was he? Apparently someone important, because Chili immediately closed his mouth and sat back down, while Cress gave Cilan a strange look.

"Anyway," Cress said slowly, returning his gaze back to me. "Ever since the Team Plasma incident a year ago, we've decided to be a little more selective in our choice of Trainers. We only accept those who we believe are mature enough to handle the responsibilities of a Pokemon trainer. If we think they are selfish or don't care about their Pokemon, or could have the potential to turn into someone evil, then we don't accept their challenge. But if the trainer cares about their Pokemon, then we accept their challenge. Now the question is, do you care about your Pokemon? Or are you like those other trainers that put themselves first?"

I opened and closed my mouth several times before I could speak. When I could, I started yelling. "Are you serious?!" I shouted at Cress. The other customers began to file out of the restaurant, giving us dirty looks, but I was too angry to care. "What kind of question is that?! Why-I can't believe a gym leader like you would accuse me of not caring about my Pokemon! How could you? This is completely ridiculous!"

"Why do you want to challenge us?" Cress asked, unfazed by my yelling.

"Because-" I began.

"Because you want to prove that your bond to your Pokemon is stronger than our bonds?" Cress interrupted. "Because you want to strengthen your team so you don't have to worry about them being unnecessarily hurt? Or is it because you want to show how superior you are to all other Trainers? To show that you deserve to be Champion merely because no one else could possibly be the Champion? Is that why?"

It was completely silent in the restaurant. Cilan was looking at the floor uncomfortably, shifting a French fry on the floor with his foot. Even Chili's eyes were downcast. Only Cress looked at me, staring at me with hard eyes. Above my shoulder, Bubble was glaring right back at Cress. I almost expected him to unload a bunch of kick-butt on Cress, but he wasn't moving.

I opened my mouth again - and closed it.

He was right. I was only in it for me.

I mean, I really did care about my Pokemon. Bubble and I were practically inseparable already, and I was already getting fond of Hope, even if she left bruises on my shin or set my hair on fire, but whenever I thought of being Champion, it was always about me, always me being the super awesome guy. My Pokemon sort of took a back seat in my daydreams compared to me.

Cress was right. I didn't deserve to challenge them.

I turned and ran out of the building, ignoring Bubble's cries. I had to get away from the accusing silence of the gym leaders, because deep down, I knew they were right.


	6. Surprise Visitor

**Disclaimer: DON'T OWN POKEMON! BECAUSE IF I DID, I WOULD'VE MADE THE REMAKES FOR RUBY AND SAPPHIRE INSTEAD OF GOING AHEAD AND MAKING GENERATION VI ALREADY!…grrr…I bet you guys can tell which was my favorite generation.**

**Author's Note: This chapter still has a tiny amount of angst in it coming from last chapter, just so you know. Although I'm still not sure if my definition of angst is the same as other people's definitions…so yeah. Enjoy!**

* * *

I sat down on a couch in the Pokemon Center and let myself slump over into a depressed-looking…well, slump. At least, I hoped it looked depressing, because that's how I wanted to look.

Bubble hovered over my head, looking miserable. I couldn't believe he was so sad. He had been spent the last ten minutes yelling "Sol!" over me. He even released Hope out of her Poke Ball to shock me repeatedly. I somehow managed to ignore those, even when the clerk once again blasted me with the fire extinguisher. He must've been a fireman in like a past life or something.

"So!" Bubble cried above me, trying to pull me off the couch. He sounded like he was going to start crying. Even Hope seemed sad, which would say something to me, if I wasn't so depressed..

I stared at the wall blankly. There wasn't any point in getting up. Not when everything I did basically revolved around me trying to be awesome when I wasn't. I never would be awesome. I'm too selfish. It was pointless to try anything anymore.

The nurse came over and tried to cheer me up, but I tuned her out. I wasn't worth giving a pep talk to. Eventually she just gave up and returned to her post. I felt better when she left. I didn't want to make someone else's day miserable.

Bubble tried to get my attention again, but I didn't pay attention. I couldn't be talked out of this. It wasn't possible. There was no one in the world that could snap me out of this state.

The center doors opened. Someone walked in. I didn't care, but I heard the clerks cry out and greet the newcomer in recognition. I continued to stare at the wall. I didn't care about whoever had just came in. It wouldn't be anyone I knew. It wouldn't be anyone that could possibly

I heard the nurse laugh. "You're back!" She chuckled. "I didn't think that you'd have time for the little people now that you're in the big leagues. Is something else going on here?"

"Come on, Martha," A guy's voice rang out. "Do you think I'd forget about all of you so easily? But you got me. I did come for another reason-"

Wait a minute. I knew that voice. But-but there's no way he could be here!

I snapped out of my slump and leapt to my feet, startling my two Pokemon so much that Bubble tackled the side of my face and Hope blasted me with another lightning bolt. Somehow, I managed to ignore this again as I whipped around to face the front desk.

A guy in his late teens was standing at the front desk talking to the nurse. He was wearing slightly ripped jeans and a green jacket with a hood, with a black backpack lying at his feet. He had six Poke Balls on his belt, two of them Ultra Balls and one of them a Great Ball. He had messy black hair, and he had a small smile on his face as he talked to the nurse.

I knew instantly who he was. "Randy?!" I yelled, not even bothering to care how ridiculous I looked.

He turned around, and he looked completely stunned before breaking into a huge grin. "Little bro!" He yelled back, walking over to me, the grin still plastered on my face.

My brother left for his Pokemon journey about six years ago, and he's sort of a big deal in the National Leagues. After he beat all eight gyms in Unova - about four years ago - he traveled to each of the regions and beat all the gym leaders in those regions. He's one of the strongest Trainers in the world right now, and almost everybody in Unova knows his name. When I asked him why he hadn't challenged any of the Champions, he had grinned and said, "I want to challenge them all in a row."

He reached me and, instead of giving me a hug, put me in a headlock. "Dude, I haven't seen you in forever! How've you been?" He started to give me a noogie.

"I'm-ow!-fine thanks-oww! Cut it out!" I managed to pull out of the headlock, though I was laughing. "And you saw me last Christmas, remember?"

"Oh, right! It's still been forever though, right?" He grinned. Then he noticed the Solosis stapled to my face. "Whoa! You got a Pokemon!"

"Yeah." I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. Then I realized that I had a Pokemon glued to my face, and pulled him off. "He's my starter. Bubble." Oh god, what have I done? He's going to give me so much crap for having a Pokemon named Bubble.

But instead he just nodded and said "Nice! Is he strong?"

"Uh…define strong."

"Well, how many trainers have you beaten with him?"

Oh crap. I haven't even challenged a trainer to a battle yet, and I hadn't even realized it. I should probably stop getting distracted so much. Maybe I should play it cool; make him think that everyone's too chicken to battle me.

Seeing that Randy was still expecting an answer, I laughed nervously. "Err…I haven't exactly battled anyone yet. But-"

Randy snorted. "Did you get too distracted?"

"Hey! I pretty much battled every Pokemon in Route 2 on the way here!" I retorted.

He burst out laughing at that. "Seriously? What'd you do to piss all of them off?"

I shook my head. "I honestly don't know. All I know is that I'm never going to get a bird Pokemon in my life."

Randy snorted again. "I swear, you have the worst luck in the world. Or at least in Unova." Then he noticed Hope eyeing him from the carpet. "Hey! Who's this guy?"

"She's a girl." I quickly corrected, noticing Hope's fur flashing dangerously. "Her name's Hope. Don't try to pet her," I warned as Randy got on his knees and reached his hand out. "She's a terrorist. She's set me on fire a couple times already."

Randy lowered his head until he was nearly nose-to-nose with Hope, and stared into her eyes, unblinking. Hope stared right back with an almost haughty expression on her face. I sort of stood there awkwardly, having no idea what to do, and Bubble was…well, being Bubble.

They stared like that for about two minutes before Hope suddenly cried happily and started rubbing her head against Randy's knee. Randy smiled and petted her head in response. He looked up at me and noticed my jaw hanging open at him. "What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

I opened and closed my mouth several times, gesturing at Hope and him and back again. Finally, I said "She likes you!"

Randy frowned. "So?" His response was so similar to Bubble's questions that I almost looked over at him.

"She hates me! She shocks me every time I go near her! Here, just watch this." Against my better judgment, I knelt down and tried to pet Hope. She immediately shocked me with a Thunderbolt, setting my shirt on fire this time. I didn't have time to panic though, because the incredibly-awesome clerk was already there spraying me with a fire extinguisher. "See?!" I turned to Randy, throwing my arms up into the air. "How come she completely hates the crap out of me and yet adores you and Bubble?"

Randy looked at me with a half-amused, half serious expression on his face. "It's because she respects my ability as a Trainer. She knows I have a spine. Apparently, she doesn't think you do. And as for liking Bubble, I don't know about that. How did you catch her?"

"Uh…Well, what is catching a Pokemon, I mean really? Is the morality of it so-" My lie crumbled from the look my brother gave me. "Okay, I didn't catch her, exactly. Bubble caught her."

Randy's eyebrows went up. "You're-wait, what? You're serious."

I nodded.

Randy tried to hide his growing smile with his hand. "So you're telling me, that you didn't actually catch your first Pokemon? That your, hee hee," he started sniggering, "Your starter Pokemon, heehee, caught her, haha, for you?" He was trying his best not to burst out in laughter.

I sighed and nodded.

Randy exploded into laughter.

A few minutes later, Randy managed to start breathing normally again. He took a few calming breaths just to be safe. "Okay. So, your starter caught Hope for you, hehe. Sorry," he raised his hands as I glared at him. "I won't laugh again. Promise. Anyway, Bubble caught Hope, but what did you do? Did you make it possible for him to catch her?"

I thought back to when I caught Hope. Jeez, it was only like this morning I caught her, but it feels like forever has passed. "Well, I sort got my hair set on fire early on, so I had to take care of that. And when I came back, Bubble had already caught her. So…no, I guess I didn't help catch her." I felt a fresh wave of depressing emotions come over me. I couldn't even catch a Pokemon. I really didn't deserve to be a Trainer.

Randy frowned at me. "What's wrong." It wasn't a question.

"N-nothing! I was just-"

"You haven't gotten in my face about how you're going to be a better Trainer than me and everyone else in the world, so I know something's wrong. What happened?"

I sighed and explained what had happened back at the restaurant-gym, telling him what Cress had said and told me. As I spoke, Randy's face slowly shifted expressions, from shock, to outrage, to finally anger. When I finished, he had a murderous look on his face. "Those-no, just Cress. Cilan and Chili would never come up with something as sadistic as this. Keeping Trainers from challenging them because they might have the potential to do terrible things? That's just wrong. It's-" He seemed to struggle with himself mentally before standing up. He started walking towards the door.

"Wait, Randy. Where are you going?" I scrambled after him, Bubble and Hope following close behind.

"How long ago was this?" He asked. His voice was ice cold now, a complete departure from his regular fun-loving self. I was starting to grow a little afraid.

"A-about two hours ago. Why?" We walked through the doors of the Pokemon center and were now in the street.

"Then they're still at the gym." Randy started to walk faster. I was jogging now to keep up.

"Randy, what are you going to do?" I was almost afraid to know the answer.

Randy continued walking, his eyes straight ahead. "I'm just gonna have a nice chat with the gym leaders. Don't worry about it."

I became extremely worried about it.

We reached the gym and walked through the doors. The three brothers were all clustered around the Pokebar, cleaning glasses with dirty cloths. They all looked up as we entered.

"RANDY!" Chili leapt over the counter and greeted my brother with a bear hug. "It has been far too long, my friend! We must show each other the strength of our passions once more!"

Randy laughed and released himself from the hug, his face assuming a relaxed expression. "Don't worry Chili, we'll have that rematch soon. Cilan, it's nice to see you again," He nodded at the green brother, who smiled and waved. Then his eyes met Cress, and they hardened. "You. Explain. Now. Or else I trash this entire building."

Cress looked stunned before noticing me standing next to Randy. His eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Randy," he said, standing from his chair. "Let's talk about this-"

Randy pulled a Poke Ball off his belt and threw it to the ground. There was a flash of light, and suddenly I was staring at a red-orange dragon with a flame at the tip of its tail. It growled menacingly at Cress, who became extremely pale. "Explain. Now." Randy repeated.

Cress sat back down on his chair, somehow managing to look calm in front of my brother who looked like he was going to order that freakingly-awesome dragon thing to burn this place down. "Randy. You remember what happened last year, right? With Team Plasma? We let their leader go right through us. Every leader did. And do you know what happened? He defeated the Champion and almost convinced everyone in Unova to give up their Pokemon. That was the closest that Unova - or any region - has ever been taken over by the bad guys. And we just let it happen. We didn't do everything in our power to stop that. We just thought, 'Oh well, that kid N has some weird thinking, but that doesn't matter, he'll snap out of it.' Well, maybe he did snap out of it, but only after he defeated Alder, only after he won, only after he was defeated by _her_, only after his father turned out to be a complete monster.

"We've made mistakes before, I know, but that was the breaking point for me. I couldn't believe that someone that seemed so good could turn out to be the leader of one of the most effective villainous organizations out there. I became convinced that we had to have some kind of restriction in place, to stop people like Team Plasma from taking over. So I decided that from now on, if I think someone that challenges us might be another N, I refuse to battle him. We're the first gym leaders, we're the first ones in the path to becoming Champion. We can-"

"I'm going to stop you right there." Randy interrupted. "Because I can point out how fucked up your logic is. When you refuse Trainers, you're basically telling them that there's no way they'll ever be a good trainer; that it's pointless to follow their dreams. By making them think that way, you open up the door for people to become angry and bitter, until they become the very thing you tried to prevent them from becoming. You don't have the ability to predict the future. So don't try to. Let Trainers grow, and let them learn from their mistakes. Chances are, almost all of them will grow up to be good people because of the things they learn on their journey. Maybe there will be the odd one that goes bad, but guess what? That's only one person. By then, we'll have dozens of Trainers around Unova ready to fight to protect Pokemon and the things they love. So don't you dare try to continue justifying this. Because if you do, I will come back here and teach you a lesson you will never forget."

Cress stared at the ground, looking ashamed. Chili and Cilan both stared at Randy, shocked expressions on their faces. I couldn't really blame them. Randy just called out a gym leader and completely destroyed his arguments. I was surprised that Cress wasn't crying right now.

"And to make sure you understand, you and your brothers are all going to battle my brother in a Triple Battle, and you're going to realize just how wrong you were-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, whoa. Whoa." I waved my arms in front of Randy's face. "All of them? At the same time? That's a bad idea. A really, really bad idea. That is like, the worst idea in the history of bad ideas. And that's coming from me."

"Give me a good reason why you shouldn't." Randy's voice was stern.

"Okay, I haven't battled any Trainers before, so I won't have any idea what I'm doing."

Randy blinked. "Give me another good reason."

"Uh, I haven't actually been in a legitimate Pokemon battle before."

"…Another reason."

"Er…Hope doesn't listen to me. She only takes orders from Bubble.

Randy smacked himself in the forehead. "…Any other reasons?"

"Um…I don't have a third Pokemon."

"Oh! Right!" Randy was suddenly back to his normal self as he searched through his backpack. "I almost forgot! I know I'm a little late, but better late than never, right?" And with that, he pulled a Poke Ball out of his backpack and tossed it to me.

I gaped at him. "You got me a Pokemon for my birthday?" I was completely floored. Randy giving me an amazingly-awesome gift was like my mom saying I could drink as many Pocket Monsters energy drinks as I could. As in, it never happened.

Randy shrugged nonchalantly. "It's nothing special." He replied. "Just a gift for my little bro."

"Are you kidding?" I laughed. "This is so awesome! This is-" I threw the Poke Ball up into the air. A flash of light, and I looked down, expecting an Axew, or a Drilbur, or some awesome Pokemon from another region-

-and instead there was a purple monkey with a giant glove-shaped hand on its tail. "Aipom!" It chattered, looking around curiously.

I stared at it. "What type is it?" I asked, hoping it was Fighting or something awesome.

"Normal."

Wow. It literally was nothing special. It was Normal.

I looked at my brother. "Thanks," I deadpanned.

"Hey, it took me two weeks to catch this Aipom." Randy ruffled my hair. "At least show _some _appreciation. Now, give him a name, or I'll have Tyche set your pants on fire." The orange dragon gave a short growl in confirmation.

I looked down at the monkey. What would be a good name for a monkey Pokemon? I watched as the - Aipom? - investigated everything around it, even crawling on Tyche's tail at one point. It seemed super curious, like it had to know what everything around it was…

"George." I immediately said.

Randy blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You know." I rubbed my neck sheepishly. "The kid's book, Curious George."

Randy stared at me before smacking himself in the face. "Wow. I can already tell you and your team are going to have an amazing relationship." Then he refocused. "All right. You have your third Pokemon, so you can battle these guys."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "Are you kidding? I haven't even been in a battle before! Hope will only take orders from Bubble, I don't know half of Bubble's moves, and I don't even know what moves this Aipom thing can use-"

"That's why you're going to wing it." Randy laughed at the expression on my face and smacked my shoulder. "Don't worry, little bro. What's the worst that could happen?"

I knew the exact answer to that question: complete and utter chaos.


	7. The First Gym

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I do own FireRed. Man, Lavender Town gives me the creeps…**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long update, guys (and girls). Basketball and school have just been insane the past few weeks, so I haven't been able to work on my stories at all. But rest assured, updates will be more frequent now (I hope).**

**Also, thanks to MonfernoFreak and the anonymous guy/guest that reviewed while I was AWOL. Thanks a million!**

**And now…time to challenge a gym!**

* * *

I totally believed we were going to lose.

There wasn't any thought about how my awesomeness alone would make the leaders' Pokemon faint, no thought about how my Pokemon would dodge every attack the leaders threw at me, no thought about how the leaders would bow before me and declare the Supreme Champion of the Pokemon League.

My only thought was, _I am _so _screwed_.

My first clue of my downfall was that me realizing I had left Bubble and Hope back at the Poke Center. I sprinted back to the Center to get them, thinking all the way that no normal Trainer would forget their Pokemon before they challenged the gym.

My next clue was that as soon as I got back to the gym, I noticed that George had disappeared. That led to a half-hour search across town, with Randy and the leaders helping me look for him. Eventually, we found him on the roof of the gym where he was investigating the chimney. After a ten-minute feud which involved us trying to scale the building and George throwing bananas at us (and no, I don't know how he found the bananas. I'm just going to call this the Banana Incident just for that.), Randy finally settled it by flying up there on Tyche - which I found out was a Charizard, by the way - and brought it back down for us. I don't know why he didn't do that in the first place. Maybe he thought it was hilarious to watch us try to climb up the outside of the gym while a purple monkey threw fruit at us.

Anyway, after all that happened, we finally managed to get back inside at around ten o'clock, and set up the gym arena, which was made out of wood and was incredibly dusty. Or at least, the gym leaders did. Randy just sort of stood next to Tyche ready to referee our match, and I tried to keep George from disappearing again, while Bubble just did spins in mid-air and Hope head butted me continuously.

Yeah. We were definitely screwed.

"Okay." Cilan called out to me. "The arena's all set up."

"Okay." I replied, tiptoeing towards George, who was investigating a plate of French fries. "Just give me a second." I lunged for George, tripped over Hope, landed on my face, and somehow knocked the plate of French fries onto my head. George yelped and jumped onto the ceiling, hanging from the rafters. Bubble cried out and began to spin in concerned circles above me, and Hope started head butting my head.

"…Are you sure about this battle?" Cilan turned to my brother, who looked like he either wanted to start rolling on the floor in laughter, or smack himself in the face out of exasperation.

"Yes." Randy replied, sounding very unsure. "I'm just not sure about my brother."

"I can hear you!" I yelled, picking myself up from the floor. I glared up at George, who gave me a look of pure innocence as he hung from the ceiling. "George, get down here!" George responded with a quick "Ai!" before crawling across the ceiling. I looked at Bubble. "Bubble, boost me up to him."

Randy shook his head as he watched Bubble levitate me precariously up to George. "You know, you might actually have a point for not wanting to challenge the gym leaders."

I landed back on the floor holding George and locked eyes with Randy. "What? But-this was your idea!"

"I know." Randy sighed. "But you might need some more training before you challenge three gym leaders. Especially since this is your first battle. I don't want you to go in unprepared-"

"No! I can do this!" Suddenly, my confidence was back up. Everyone thought I wouldn't be able to this. Well, I'd just prove them wrong. "Just watch me!"

Randy raised an eyebrow at me before saying, "Okay." He turned to the three brothers. "You guys ready?"

Cilan nodded, Cress gave a shrug, and Chili bellowed, "OF COURSE I'M READY! BATTLING IS WHAT POWERS MY BURNING SOUL!"

"All right, then. Get to your positions, and I'll explain the rules. This'll be set up as a Triple Battle. You leaders can only use one Pokemon each, since my little bro only has three Pokemon. You can't use items, but you can target any Pokemon on the opposing team that you want. That should be it."

We went to opposite sides of the arena, the leaders on the far side, and me on the side closest to the entrance. I took in a deep breath and knelt down so I could talk to my Pokemon.

"All right, guys. This is it." I stared into their faces, wondering what thoughts were running through their heads right now. Hope looked bored, like she had nothing better to do, and George kept looking around as if he were distracted by everything that existed. Only Bubble seemed to get the significance of this event, for he wore a determined expression on his face.

"This is what I've-what we've been training for." Technically, we haven't even officially trained yet, but I didn't want to bring that up. "I'm counting on all of you to get us a win. Because if we do, we can kick-start our journey of awesomeness together." Now they seemed to be focused, even George. I looked at him. "George, I know we literally just met about an hour ago, but I want you to give it your all for me. Can you do that?"

"Pom!" George did a backflip and landed on his tail, wearing a grin on his face.

"All right. Try not to-erm, well-you know what, just do your thing. Maybe it'll work out for us. Hope," I turned to her. "You're probably going to be our heavy hitter. Cress' Pokemon-whatever it is- will be a Water-type, so I want you to take it out as fast as possible so we get an early lead. Unless you don't think you're up for it-?"

I kind of guessed that she would take offense at me doubting her abilities, and I was proved right when sparks flew off her wool and she responded with a fierce "Mareep!"

"Okay." I smiled, holding my hands up defensively. "Just don't hurt me, please? And Bubble-" I looked at him. An instant connection went between us, and I knew he understood. "You got it."

"SOL!" Bubble hugged my face, and I gave him a pat on the-er, his bubble-well, I-I patted him, okay? You get the point.

I grinned and stood up. "All right! Let's do this!" My team yelled their various cries and walked onto the arena floor, looking awesome.

"You ready?" Randy asked.

I nodded, completely ready. I could do this!

"All right," Randy said, turning to the gym leaders. "You guys get set up, and then I'll start the battle."

At once, the three brothers pulled a Poke Ball, and threw it into the air. There were three flashes of light, and three monkeys appeared on the ground, one red, one green, and one blue. The red one had an flame-like hairdo and wore a relaxed expression on its face, the green one had a bush on its head and had an energetic look in his eyes, and the blue one had hair in the shape of a water fountain with a happy look on its face. I instantly recognized them: Pansear, Pansage, and Panpour, the elemental monkeys.

"Now, let the battle begin!" Randy yelled out, and I was plunged into my first Trainer battle.

* * *

"Um, Pansage, attack Mareep with, er, Vine Whip." Cilan said uncertainly. Pansage nodded and scurried towards Hope, green vines extending from its arms.

"PANSEAR! ATTACK THAT UNIMPRESSIVE MONKEY WITH THE POWER OF INCINERATE, AND THEN PUMMEL IT WITH YOUR FURIOUS SCRATCHES!" Chili bellowed. Pansear yelled "PANSEAR!" and fired a bolt of fire at George. I guess it really was like Trainer, like Pokemon.

"Panpour, use Scratch on Solosis!" Cress commanded. The blue monkey jumped at Bubble, its fingers suddenly extended into claws as it flew through the air at my starter.

Startled, I managed to collect myself and yelled, "Bubble, dodge and use Psywave!"

Bubble flew to the side, letting out a shocked cry as Panpour's claws barely missed him. He flew a fair distance away before turning to glare at Panpour, glowing with psychic energy. Rings of multicolored energy suddenly appeared and flew at the blue monkey with incredible speed. Panpour yelped as the rings knocked it into the ground. I grinned with happiness. I had gotten the first hit!

Then I realized that the other monkeys were fighting my Pokemon. Pansage and Hope were aggressively attacking each other, although Pansage had an edge with it using Vine Whip. Hope, for some reason, wasn't using her Thundershock, and was just trying to Tackle the grass monkey. Of course, Vine Whip kept slapping her in the face and whipping at her legs, leaving her unable to advance.

"Oh no! Um, Hope, use-" Wait, she didn't listen to me at all. "Crap! Er, Bubble, tell Hope to use Thundershock!"

Bubble nodded and turned to Hope, but Cress yelled, "Panpour, keep his Solosis busy with Water Gun!" The water monkey responded with an enthusiastic "Pan!" and then fired a stream of water at Bubble, who spluttered and, in the midst of being forced to dodge several Water Guns, completely forgot to tell Hope what to do. Meanwhile, Hope was beginning to get forced back by the constant Vine Whips. She looked really tired.

I smacked myself in the face. This wasn't going well. At this rate, Bubble, Hope and George were going to-

Crap! I forgot about George!

I turned to his battle and immediately winced. Pansear was clearly the stronger one of the two, blasting fire at him and relentlessly attacking it with Scratch. The only reason that Pansear hadn't won yet was because George was somehow dodging all of its attacks by the skin of its teeth. "I'm sorry George! Use-" I didn't know any of George's moves! "Uh, use…Scratch!" I guessed completely, hoping that he knew it.

George stopped moving and gave me a look like I had just turned into an elephant. Unfortunately, that meant he couldn't dodge Pansear's next attack. "No!" I yelled as George's face got smacked by a blast of fire. Pansear let out an exasperated "Sear!", like it was saying, Finally, I hit that thing!, and turned to its owner for praise.

I was in extreme panic mode. I wasn't ready for this. I was completely under prepared for this. I was going to lose.

I was going to lose.

That thought drove me over the edge, and in desperation I blurted out, "Bubble, help George! Use Rollout on Pansear and knock it out!"

Oh great. I just told Bubble to use a move based on him rolling on the ground one time, and he'll get confused since I just told him to use a move he didn't know, and then he would get hit like George did, and then we would lose, and then my team would hate me, and-

"Solo!" Bubble responded, landing on the ground and suddenly rolling at fast speeds towards Pansear. Pansear was taken off guard and couldn't dodge. Bubble collided with Pansear and sent it flying through the air, where it landed on Chili's face, knocking both of them off the arena floor.

I stared numbly at Bubble, trying to process what had just happened. Bubble actually knew Rollout?! How can it know Rollout?! It's a Psychic-type! It shouldn't know Physical moves at all! How does that work?!

Apparently, everyone in the gym was taken as equally off guard, because they were all staring at Bubble in confusion, even Randy. Heck, even the Pokemon were staring at him, the elemental monkeys looking completely bewildered. Hope looked kind of impressed, and George was staring at Bubble with complete awe, as if he were the best Pokemon to have ever existed. Bubble noticed all of the attention and, suddenly looking really guilty, looked at me and innocently asked, "Sis?"

That snapped me out of my trance. The gym leaders were off guard, and so were their Pokemon. I had to take advantage of this.

"Bubble! Tell Hope to use Thundershock on Panpour!" I ordered. "George-!" I crossed my fingers and hoped that he knew this move. "Use Astonish on Pansage!"

My team went to work. Bubble let out a command, and Hope responded immediately by unleashing a blast of lightning at Panpour, knocking it to the ground where Bubble fired several Psywaves at it, making quick work of Cress' Pokemon.

That just left Cilan's Pokemon.

"George-!" I crossed my fingers as I spoke and prayed that he knew this move. "Use Astonish on Pansage!"

George snapped out of his reverie, responding with a quick "Ai!" before nimbly making its way across the field to the green monkey, where a shadow crossed his face and he slowly licked the Grass Pokemon's face.

Pansage shrieked and flinched horribly, backing away and wiping its face in a panic.

"Now, George, use Tackle!" I yelled, hoping that my luck continued. George immediately tackled Pansage to the ground, leaping off and dodging Pansage's attempts to hit it with Vine Whip.

"Pansage, use Vine Whip and hold them off!" Cilan's voice suddenly sounded much more confident, and I was surprised to see a glint of determination in his eyes.

Pansage glowed with green energy, its eyes hardening. It leapt to its feet and whipped its vines around again, slamming into my Pokemon and sending them sprawling across the floor. I blinked. How did it get so strong? Then I remembered Pansage's ability: Overgrow. It increased the power of Grass-type moves when the Pokemon's health fell to a low point. Which meant that it was close to fainting.

I thought fast as my team regained their footing. "Bubble, knock the vines away with Psywave! Hope, you-I mean, Bubble, tell Hope to blast the vines with Thundershock. Try and burn them so he can't use them anymore."

Bubble nodded, conveyed the orders to Hope, and then began knocking the vines away from them with his psychic energy. Hope began scorching the vines with lightning. Pansage's face contorted with annoyance, and it focused solely on Bubble and Hope, not noticing George behind it. I waited for George to sneak up on Pansage and attack, but it began to smell the floor and stare at the ceiling. I smacked myself in the face. We'd have to get him to focus somehow.

"George! Focus! Use Astonish and follow up with a Tackle!" George darted across the floor and crept up behind Pansage, licking the back of its head. Pansage shuddered and tried squirming away from George, only to get knocked to the ground with a Tackle. Pansage let out one last cry and then slumped to the ground, snoring.

I waited, looking at the gym leaders as they returned their Pokemon. Was that it? Did I just…win?

Randy broke into a broad grin and started clapping. "And the winner is my little freakin' bro!" He yelled, running over to me and giving me a noogie.

"Wait…I just won?" I was so shocked I didn't try and push him off me. "I…beat the gym?"

"Yep." Randy grinned. "And I think that these guys have something to give you." He added, looking at the three brothers.

I turned to them, feeling like I was in a dream. Cilan had a sheepish smile on his face as he approached, rubbing the back of his head. Chili was grinning almost as broadly as Randy was, and he was fist pumping as he said, "That was a truly intense battle! Your powerful passion is truly powerful!" I thought that was a little redundant, but I wasn't going to say that out loud for fear of hurting his feelings.

But I was focused mostly on Cress, wondering what he would do.

He looked ashamed as he walked over to me, looking at the ground somberly. He stopped in front of me and paused, taking a deep breath in. Then he held out a closed hand, and opened it slowly.

My eyes widened. The first badge sat there, in all of its gleaming glory. It was shaped almost like a bow tie, with the colors red, green, and blue surrounded by bronze borders. It was smaller than I thought it'd be, but I didn't really care.

"I present to you, the Trio Badge, earned by your victory over us." Cress declared. Then, after a short pause, he added, "I'm sorry for doubting your commitment to Pokemon. I can see now that I was completely wrong for doing what I did, and from now on, I aim to change that."

Randy nodded at that, as if he were going to guarantee that he did. I was still mesmerized by the badge. "It's…mine?" I asked, picking it up and holding it like it was the Mona Lisa.

Cress smiled a little. "Yes. It's yours."

Then I went bananas.

"YEAH!" I yelled, making everyone jump ten feet. I turned to my Pokemon, not caring how loud I was. "WE BEAT THE FIRST GYM! WE'RE STARTING OUR JOURNEY OF AWESOMENESS! WE'RE AWESOME!"

"SOL!" Bubble yelled, and he began to spin circles around my head super fast. He was absolutely pumped by this victory.

"Ai!" George beamed and started doing backflips and other acrobatic stuff with its tail.

"Ma." Hope deadpanned, and then laid on the ground and fell asleep.

I was too happy to be offended by that, though. I had just beaten the first gym, and I was on top of the world. There wasn't any question of my awesomeness now. I would get through every gym, and I would prove my awesomeness to everyone.

Championship, here I come.


	8. Next Step

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I'm going super try-hard on FireRed now. Championship, here I come!**

**Author's Note: Sorry (once again) for the long update and the short chapter. I'm getting struck with some writer's block and an idea for a new story that keep distracting me from this one. I'll keep trying my best to update this story.**

* * *

"Look," Randy said, eyeing me with a raised eyebrow. "I know you're celebrating getting your first gym badge, but do you really have to make me spend three-thousand Poke Dollars on food?" Behind him, Tyche grunted in agreement as it ate a medium-rare steak. Or maybe it was just grunting because the food was really good. I couldn't tell.

"Yes." I responded, my mouth currently filled with about three hot dogs. It didn't really come out right, because it sounded like I said "Bel."

Randy got the point, though, and shook his head at me. "Seriously? I never splurged like this for accomplishing anything on my journey. I just saved it for Potions and battle stuff."

"Well, you don't know how to celebrate important stuff." I somehow swallowed all my good, grinned and leaned back, resting my head on my hands. Bubble bobbed up and down in agreement, his mouth filled with Poke food. George munched on some French fries, looking very satisfied as he beamed up at me and Randy. Hope was sprawled across the seat, snoring quietly on my lap. Normally I'd be happy that she wasn't actively hurting me, but she was cutting off all the circulation to my legs, so I couldn't feel my feet.

We were sitting in the Striaton Restaurant, having a victory feast for my win against the gym brothers. At first I didn't think they'd let us eat here, but they were completely fine with it, as long as we paid. I didn't have any money, though, so Randy had to pay for me. Needless to say, he wasn't very happy with me.

Randy rolled his eyes and grinned. "Okay, I know you got your first badge, and I'm happy for you. Seriously. I remember how it felt when I got my first badge with my starter. It was awesome. But that doesn't mean you have to do this, especially with my money." He added, gesturing to all the food on the table. "

"Oh well." I shrugged, biting into another hot dog. "Hey, where is Z anyway? I haven't seen him in a while."

Randy grinned mischievously. Pointing at Tyche behind him, he said, "He's right there."

I raised an eyebrow at him, not falling for it. "That's not Z. Z doesn't like meat."

Randy threw his arms up into the air. "Seriously? The one time I try to trick you, you're not even fazed!"

"I'm your brother! I pretty much know Z as well as you do!" I countered. "And besides, he's known me the longest out of all your Pokemon. He'd give me some clue that it's him."

"True." Randy conceded. "He'd probably disguise himself as a building and then fall on you."

"Haha."

Randy ate his French fries with deliberate slowness.

"Um, you are kidding, right?" I asked nervously. Even though I was most familiar with Z out of all Randy's Pokemon, he still had a way of being completely unpredictable at times. I honestly had no idea how he'd greet me. Last time, he disguised himself as a telephone pole, and when I walked near him, he just popped out and made me-erm, I won't get into that, but let's just say he scared the crap out of me. Literally.

Randy grinned. "I don't know. He likes to mix things up a little. He sometimes tries to scare _me_, and I have almost every Gym badge from all the regions. Not to mention he's my starter." He leaned back in his seat, and looked at me with an appraising eye. "So, what's your plan now?"

I swallowed all the food in my mouth and looked at Randy blankly. "Plan?"

"You know, what you're going to do next."

"Um…be awesome?"

Randy sighed and shook his head. "I'm not even going to try and make you come up with a real plan. Now, can we go back to the Poke Center? I'm not spending any more money on you tonight."

"No, we can't." I refused, sticking my chin up. Bubble imitated my expression, complete with a "Sis!"

Randy didn't say anything, but merely looked back at Tyche, who snorted before glaring darkly at me.

We immediately went back to the Poke Center.

* * *

"All right." Randy said, standing with his arms crossed. "You got everything you need?"

We were in the Striaton Garden, standing in front of the exit to town. I was on the lookout for the gardener, convinced that he would kick me out as soon as he saw me. Bubble was in the same mindset, because he was hovering above my head and doing a continuous 360. "Yeah," I replied, my hands in my pockets. I was now wearing a blue-and-brown jacket that Randy had bought for me. It was actually pretty comfy, and it looked cool, which would completely suit my awesomeness when I became Champion.

"Probably." I replied, making sure I had all my Poke Balls on my belt. I decided to keep Hope and George in their Poke Balls for now, because having all three of my Pokemon out basically guaranteed mass hysteria.

"Right," Randy rolled his eyes as he looked over his shoulder at Tyche. "You know where you're going next, right?"

"We just talked about this at breakfast." I complained. "I'm going to Nacrene City to challenge the next gym."

Randy nodded. "And you're going to catch some more Pokemon along the way, right?"

"Um…" I hesitated. "Didn't you say that I should get in control of my team now before I start catching more?"

"Oh, right." Randy grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I forgot about that."

"It was literally ten minutes ago." I frowned at him. "How could you forget about that so quickly?"

"Sorry." Randy smirked a little. "I just like to mess with people."

"What?" I blinked. "What is that supposed to-"

Suddenly, Randy morphed into a black fox with a long red mane. Its blue eyes twinkled with mischief as it smirked at me, and then suddenly tackled me to the ground.

"SOL!" Bubble yelled in alarm, and he attempted to knock the flack fox off me with a Tackle. It didn't really help, though, because the fox was too busy hugging me to really notice the green orb smacking into it.

"Hey! Z!" I yelled as I tried shoving the enthusiastic Zoroark off of me. "Yeah, it's great to see you too, but you're scaring the crap out of Bubble."

Z finally decided to jump off me, and looked at me happily as I regained my feet. "Roark," He said as he grinned.

"You are crazy." I couldn't help but smile as I looked at him. It felt like forever since I last saw him, and despite how he always managed to completely catch me by surprise every time he saw me, I missed him a lot. "Where's Randy?" I asked him, looking around. "Does he know about this?"

Z gave a nonchalant shrug. "Zo," he replied vaguely as he studied my starter curiously. Bubble meanwhile was looking at him like he was the Grim Reaper of Psychic types, and was hiding behind me like I was the Great Wall of Orre, peeking over my shoulder at him.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" I questioned. "Are you just messing with me, or is Randy-"

"Z!" Randy's voice rang out from the Poke Center. "Where are my clothes?!"

I burst out laughing, and then immediately stopped as Randy continued, "Hey! Z, did you get my brother to help you with this?! I swear, when I get both of you-"

"I…gotta go. You know, before Randy kills me!" I waved goodbye to Z as I sprint as fast as possible away from the Poke Center. Bubble zipped after me with an enthusiastic "Sol!"

"Zor," Z chuckled as he waved back, before turning and slinking back to the Poke Center. Tyche followed him with an exasperated snort.

I grinned and focused on the road in front of me. On to the next step of my journey of awesomeness. My team and I would get to the next gym and completely own its leader. This time I wouldn't panic. I would go through this without messing up anything.

Then I tripped, landed on my face, and got a bloody nose.

…thanks, life.


	9. Unexpected Development

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I own these disclaimer jokes.**

**Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've just been caught up with things and I haven't been able to really focus on writing. This might be a short chapter, but hopefully you guys like it.**

**(Plus, I beat FireRed for the first time ever! Totally awesome).**

* * *

You know, I really expected to just strut through Route 3, totally owning every Pokemon and Trainer that was on it. And after I won, everyone would recognize that I was destined for total awesomeness.

Instead, I sat in a bush, in the middle of the forest, hiding from my brother, whom I could hear about three hundred feet away from town.

"So?" Bubble floated into my field of vision, his upside down face looking confused. Either that or he had a Lillipup look on his face. I wasn't sure.

I put a finger to my lips and replied in a whisper. "Bubble, I'm sure that you're asking a very important question, and I'd love to answer it, but right now we need to be as quiet as possible so Randy doesn't hear us."

Don't ask me how Randy could possibly hear us when we're three hundred feet away from him. He's done crazier things than that.

"Sis..." Bubble said sadly, floating slowly to the ground and landing softly. He had such a downcast look on his face that it would make a Scolipede cry.

I tried to not be affected by it, but after ten seconds of Bubble looking at me I couldn't take it anymore. "Okay," I sighed. "What do you want to do?"

"Sol!" Bubble zipped around me about thirty times and then nudged the Poke Balls on my belt.

"You want me to send out Hope and George?" I asked. Bubble responded with an enthusiastic nod. "Okay," I said, pulling the Poke Balls off of my belt and throwing them up into the air. With two bright flashes, Hope and George appeared on the ground before us.

"Mar." Hope gave me an annoyed look, as if asking why I kept dragging her out of her ball. I guess I could see why she'd be annoyed. I kept bringing her out because either I want to have a random meeting with my team, or because Bubble wanted me to.

George, on the other hand, didn't seem to be bothered at all. In fact, he was just looking around like he didn't have a care in the world. Either that or he was completely fascinated with all the trees around him.

"Okay guys," I said, trying to sound like I knew what I was doing. "We're going to…um…do stuff that's important, and maybe catch some more Pokemon for our team." I wracked my brain for what else I needed to do. "And…oh yeah, get to the next Gym Leader and kick their BUTT!" I did a fist-pump, suddenly psyched up. "Are you guys ready to do this?!" I yelled, trying to pump them up too.

Then I noticed that all my Pokemon had disappeared.

I froze, my mind hovering between confusion and extreme panic. "Uh, guys?' I called out, hoping that they were somewhere close by.

"Pom?" George's head appeared out of a nearby tree, looking curiously at me.

I immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "George, get over here. You scared the crap out of me."

George instantly leapt out of the tree and landed perfectly on my head. He looked down on me with a happy smile on his face as he said "Ai!" I snorted, trying to hide grateful that I knew where at least one of my Pokemon was.

Then it hit me. I only had one Pokemon with me, about to search through the entire forest to find two Pokemon, one that shocked me on a regular basis, and the other, one of the most hyper Psychic types I have ever known. All of this while my brother was searching for me to get revenge for something I didn't do.

…This was going to suck.


	10. Epic Fail

**Disclaimer: I'm running out of clever jokes…but I still don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

"Bubble! Hope!" I yelled, walking around the forest. "It's not funny anymore guys!" Meanwhile, on top of my head, George was staring absent-mindedly into space, probably wondering where all the bananas were. I was a bit more worried about the fact that two-thirds of my team had disappeared on me. In the middle of a totally awesome speech when I was trying to pump them up. Not to mention that a Pidove pooped on my shoulder after I realized my Pokemon were gone.

Needless to say, I was a little miffed.

"Hey! Bubble, Hope, I'm not kidding!" I yelled, hoping that they'd be nearby. "Get back here! You're starting to freak me out." No sooner than when I had said those words that I really started worrying. I had no idea where my Pokemon were, in the middle of the forest, where there might be really strong Pokemon here, and strong Trainers…

I started hyperventilating. This was completely my fault. I should've paid more attention to my Pokemon. Why didn't I just stay on Route 3 and head straight to the next town? None of this would have happened-

"Ai?" George suddenly perked up from his perch on my head, looking around the area intensely for something.

"What's up, George? Did you hear something?" A sudden hope emerged in my chest. "Did you hear Bubble or Hope? Are they nearby?" I looked around. We were surrounded by trees and vegetation. How could so much stuff grow in a forest? How could Pokemon live in a forest when it was so crowded with plants? I mean, it was so messy, and-

Wait a minute. Where were all the Pokemon?

I gazed around us, spinning in a circle as I did so. I didn't see any Pokemon at all. There wasn't any sign of Pokemon as far as I could tell. I felt a bead of sweat go down my neck. "Hey, George, let's-"

Before I could finish, a small shape emerged from a nearby bush. It was a small lizard-like Pokemon with red eyes and a small horn. It had tusks sprouting from each side of its mouth, and it sniffed the air with its huge nostrils. It's skin was a dull yellow, and it had a pink collar-like pattern around its neck. It seemed to shine in the dull green of the forest. "Axew?" It said bewilderedly as it stared at us.

I immediately knew what kind of Pokemon it was. I just couldn't believe it.

"OH MY GOD A SHINY AXEW!"

I didn't realize I had just screamed at the top of my lungs until George fell off of my head out of sheer shock. The shiny Axew leapt up, yelled "Axew!" and ran back into the bush.

"NO! GET BACK HERE!" I yelled, crashing through the underbrush. "GEORGE, COME ON! WE HAVE TO CATCH THIS THING!" I yelled back at my Pokemon, seeing the little Dragon-type Pokemon running at top speed. How could something so small move so fast?

"AII?!" George cried in confusion as it ran after me, barely managing to keep up with me. I was too focused on chasing the Pokemon to really notice though. My entire life, I had wanted an Axew on my team. I had dreamed of fighting the Champion with my totally awesome Haxorus at my side. And now I had the chance to catch it, and not just any ordinary Axew! A shiny Axew! It was like destiny had just talked to me and said, "Dude, you're awesome."

I would not fail to catch this thing. Even if it killed me.

Okay, maybe I would fail if it killed me, because then I wouldn't be able to throw a Poke Ball at it. But I kinda doubt that it would kill me, considering it hasn't evolved yet and it would at the most break a couple of my bones, and-

STOP GETTING DISTRACTED!

I refocused on chasing Axew, noticing that it was pulling ahead slightly. I sprinted even faster after it, George now right on my heels as we chased our next team member.

Finally, it came to a halt in a small clearing about twenty feet long. I leapt over a bush in a totally awesome way, and then yelled, "George, use Astonish and follow up with a Tackle!"

George immediately complied, running towards the wild Axew and licking it creepily before tackling it to the ground. Axew yelled and kicked him off before regaining its footing.

I let out a quick breath, my heart pounding in my chest. This was my chance to catch an Axew. I couldn't afford to screw this up.

"All right, George. Use Tail Whip and Tackle!" George started spinning his tail in a circle, drawing Axew's attention and mesmerizing it before pouncing on it. Axew growled and kicked George off, but I noticed that it seemed very tired.

"Yes! Time to catch you!" I immediately pulled my backpack in front of me and began digging through it to grab a Poke Ball. "George, just keep it busy for a bit, okay?"

"Aipom!" George replied happily as it faced down an extremely ticked off shiny dragon. Axew growled and gathered a ball of blue energy in its mouth. It roared and blasted the beam of energy at George, who barely managed to dodge it. The energy beam flew past George, scorching the grass in the process and smashing into a tree, which immediately burst into flame.

I froze. Oh, crap. It knew Dragon Rage. I started digging through my backpack faster.

"Just wait a little bit longer, George! I just need to find…a…Poke Ball." I stuck my entire arm into my backpack while George fought the shiny Axew. Where were my Poke Balls? I knew they were in my backpack, because Randy made sure they were in there-

Wait. That wasn't Randy this morning. That was Z. And Z likes to mess with me a lot.

I stood and stared in the direction of Striaton City. No way. Z did not do what I think he did. Because if he did…if he did…

Then he screwed up my one chance to catch a shiny Axew.

I bent down and double checked every pocket in my backpack, ignoring the rather heated battle going on around me. No Poke Balls. I stood and glared in the direction of where I thought Z was. "Z!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "YOU SCREWED MY ONLY CHANCE TO CATCH A SHINY AXEW! I'M NOT HAPPY!"

There was a small silence after this, where George and the wild Axew stared at me in shock. Apparently, they didn't expect me to freak out like I just lost the lottery.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and two massive dragons shouldered through three trees like they were twigs. They were both six feet tall, with massive scythes growing out of the sides of their mouths. Each one's eyes were a dark red, and they glared at me with clear annoyance as they moved towards me, their blood-red claws and talons bared menacingly. But what really caught my eye was the fact that their skin was black and glinting slightly.

I just came across a shiny Axew and two shiny Haxoruses! And I didn't have any Poke Balls!

Then I noticed that they were moving to protect the shiny Axew. Oh. I guess those two are its parents. It must've left the house and they got worried-

…wait, if those two are its parents, and I was just fighting their kid-

Oh crap. That's not good.

I returned George as fast as I could, and ran away screaming at the top of my lungs, two angry Dragon-types fast on my tail.


	11. Complete Idiocy

**Disclaimer: When life gives me video games, I play them. But I don't own any of their franchises, especially not Pokemon.**

**Author's Note: All right, time for another chapter. Thanks to shin obin for reviewing. Don't worry, I'll keep writing. Still a short chapter, though.**

* * *

I sprinted through the forest, leaping over bushes and dodging trees. Behind me, there were two angry Dragon-type Pokemon crashing through the underbrush behind me, roaring and snarling their anger. I was pretty sure that they were also trying to attack me, seeing as pulses of pure energy were flying past me and setting everything on fire.

So it was sort of natural for me to be screaming at the top of my lungs.

Of course, there was other stuff going on that helped my panic. For one, Lillipups were sprinting across the ground so fast, it looked like they were gliding just above the ground. Patrats were quickly burrowing into their tunnels like mad. And Pidoves were flying everywhere and - you guessed it - pooping like crazy.

Unfortunately, I couldn't try to avoid the poop with the two ticked off Haxoruses behind me. So I got my new jacket covered in poop. Again.

I leapt over some more bushes and kept running, feelings of guilt going through my mind. I somehow lost my Pokemon in the forest, which is now currently on fire, which is technically my fault, which means that if anything happens to my Pokemon, it would totally my fault. I wouldn't be able to call myself an awesome Trainer ever again. I would have to go back home and never be able to become the Champion. I would have to watch Gwen go on her journey and become the next awesome Trainer-

How big is this forest?! Seriously, I've been running for like five minutes and there's no sign of me getting out of here!

As if in sudden answer, I tripped over a stupid Patrat, almost did a front flip, and landed on the road for Route 3. I blinked rapidly, not processing the fact that I had gotten out of the forest. When I finally did realize what happened, I leapt to my feet and turned around, expecting the Haxoruses to step out of the trees and completely wreck me with their giant tusks.

But they were nowhere to be found.

I did a double take, sure that I was totally out of it and unable to see two angry Dragon type Pokemon trying to kill me. But I didn't see any hint of them at all, besides the flaming trees and the panicking Pokemon. I shrugged and turned away. Maybe they just wanted to drive me out of their territory. It was a good thing I put George back in his Poke Ball; otherwise he might've got hurt-

And then Bubble and Hope suddenly came crashing into my thoughts again.

I groaned and sat down onto the road again, and put my face in my hands. Let's count how many ways I screwed up today. I lost my starter and my first caught Pokemon, I nearly got George killed, I set a forest on fire, and I managed to fail in catching a shiny Axew. Could this day get any worse?

"Sol!"

I shot straight up, instantly alert. Where did that cry come from?!

Then I noticed a Day-Care center right in front of me, where a bunch of preschoolers were running around a playground having fun. And hanging around right by the Day-Care door was a Solosis and a Mareep, the Solosis looking super happy, while the Mareep just gave me a look that said, 'You're an idiot.'

I stared at them for an entire minute before smacking myself in the face.

How did I _not_ notice that they were chilling at the Day-Care center?!

Hope was right. I'm a complete idiot.


	12. Worst Day Ever

**Disclaimer: I have a Serperior doll. Be jealous. Oh, and by the way, I don't own Pokemon**.

* * *

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I yelled, my hands on my hips. "Seriously! Do you know how worried I was?!"

Bubble looked ashamedly down at the ground, not even trying to look me in the eye. Hope, on the other hand, was staring me like I wasn't even worth her time. Meanwhile, George was out of his Poke Ball, and was sneaking across the roof hoping I wouldn't notice. I noticed, but I was too mad at Bubble and Hope to care.

We were standing outside the Day-Care center, which was a brown, stout building with a green roof. A long fence surrounded a large field filled with flowers and tall grass, where Pokemon of all different kinds relaxed and played with each other. Next to the Day-Care center was a small school with a red roof and shutters. Preschoolers ran around like crazy outside of it, which kind of made me wonder why there didn't seem to be a teacher anywhere around. Unless the Day-Care couple were the teachers, which would be kind of make sense, considering that they probably know about every Pokemon in existence. Although, how could they be taking care of Pokemon at the Day-Care and teaching kids at the same time? They must work overtime if they-

Stop getting distracted. And keep your eyes on your runaway Pokemon.

I refocused on my two renegades, making sure I honestly looked angry. Bubble shied further away, and even Hope began to look nervous.

"Okay, since we obviously need some, let's set some ground rules here," I pointed down at them. "One: do not disappear on me like that ever again. Two-" Wait. That was all I really wanted to cover. I'll just make something up quick for rule two. "-two: you don't run away from me whenever I'm making a speech. That's just rude. George, get off the roof." George hopped down onto my shoulder, giving a quick "Aip." as he did so. "And three," I just let my mouth run for this one. "Next time we go into a forest, make sure that I have Poke Balls with me. Just in case. Do you understand?"

Hope gave a half-shrug and immediately began to sleep on the ground, while Bubble looked at me with a confused expression on his face. I guess he didn't get the point behind Rule No. 3. But eventually, he bobbed up and down to show his affirmation. "Good," I sighed, glad that I finally managed to set some sense of order to my team. "I'm not mad any more, Bubble," I added, as Bubble still looked at me sadly. "You don't have to be sad anymore."

"SOOOLLL!" Bubble immediately tackled my face, hugging so tightly I couldn't breathe. I stumbled backward, tripped over a rock, and landed heavily on my back. George jumped off my shoulder at the last second, and somehow managed to land on Bubble, who squished my face even more.

"'WWWW!" I yelled in a very muffled voice. I pulled George and Bubble off my face, and sat up, wiping my face. Then I noticed that there was blood on my hand. I wiped my nose, and more blood appeared. Oh, great. Now I got a bloody nose from a monkey and a green bubble squishing my face. And to top it all off, a bunch of preschoolers had seen everything and were now rolling on the ground laughing. Even Hope was laughing at me!

I flushed a bright red as I plugged my nose. Great. At least it couldn't get any worse.

"LITTLE BRO!" An angry voice bellowed from behind me. "WHERE'D YOU PUT MY CLOTHES?"

I paled. Of course, it just got worse. I turned around…

…and immediately started laughing my head off.

My brother Randy was looking at me very unhappily, his face full of anger. His fists were clenched with rage, and he had Tyche out behind him to help enforce it. He was walking toward me, letting me know that he was really ticked.

He also wasn't wearing any pants.

I barely managed to keep myself from passing out from sheer laughter, and managed to roll onto my stomach, clutching my sides. He wasn't wearing any pants, and he was walking in the middle of the road! Why would he do that?

Oh, wait. He's just that ticked off.

I immediately stopped laughing and got to my feet. "Guys, run!" I told my Pokemon as I sprinted down the road. George instantly climbed up my side and perched on my shoulder, pointing his tail-hand forward and crying "Ai!" Bubble floated up and sped down the road, whooping "SIS!" the entire time, while Hope just rolled her eyes and sprinted after us.

We ran for about two minutes before I realized that we had run off the road and were now in wilderness again. At least we were all together this time. Now the only problem was staying away from Randy.

Then we reached a dead end made of rock.

"Oh no!" I declared, trying to climb up the rock wall. My Pokemon watched me with expectant eyes, as if waiting for me to fall. "This isn't going to stop me!" A bit of rock gave way underneath me, and I fell down, landing on Hope's tail, who screeched and blasted me with lightning. "Seriously, Hope?!" I yelled, smacking my pants which were now on fire. "Can we go at least one day without you setting me on fire?" I looked around for a pool of water, some nice dirt, anything to put out my pants.

…That sounded weird.

Then I noticed a hole in the rock wall, about ten feet to our right. Maybe there was some water in there! I sprinted through the hole, my Pokemon following close behind.

The only thing I focused on when I ran inside the cave was the huge pool of water that was sitting right in front of me. I ran as fast as I could and leapt into the water, plunging into the cold water.

It then occurred to me that maybe I should've taken off some of my other clothes before diving into the pool. I blinked and smacked myself across the head as I floated underwater. Of course I'd completely forget to do something sensible. Why don't I ever think things through? Before I could yell at myself anymore, I realized I couldn't see anything. It was really dark, almost pitch-black. I looked around, wondering if any Pokemon were around.

Suddenly dozens of narrow, blue eyes opened and stared at me. I blinked. They blinked back, and then shot towards me. Teeth sank into my arms and legs, and held on like I was their only lifeline in the world. Spikes of pain erupted through my limbs.

That's when I panicked and leapt out of the water like a scared cat. My Pokemon jumped and ran out of the cave, yelling like crazy. I followed them, waving my arms around trying to get whatever the fish were off my arms.

I entered broad daylight, and looked at my arms to see what was on me. I immediately began to panic again. "Oh my God! Blue Basculin!" I yelled and started flinging my arms and legs around, trying to get the insane fish off of me. "Guys! A little help here?!" I shouted to my team, who was staring at me like they had never seen something like this before. Well, now that I think about it, they probably haven't seen anything like this, so it's sort of understandable-

I yelled again as the Basculin sunk their teeth even tighter into me. Maybe they were punishing me for getting distracted again.

"Bubble! Help!" I shrieked, and my starter finally seemed to get the message. He flew at me, wearing a determined expression on his face and proceeded to tackle one of the Basculin, missed, and hit me in the face. "Ow! Okay, that's it! Hope! Shock me!" I yelled, hoping that she'd at least respond to that command.

Hope, for the first time ever, actually decided to take an order from me, and immediately let out a powerful bolt of lightning with a happy smile on her face. I gritted my teeth and bore it until she stopped shocking me. Good news: all of the Basculin fainted and let go of me, and I was now completely dry. Bad news: I was on fire again.

"Okay, that's it! I'm done!" I sat down on the ground, refusing to acknowledge my now flaming shoes. "My shoes can melt for all I care! But I am done with getting set on fire!"

Immediately after I said that, my pantless brother walked onto the scene. "LITTLE BRO!" He yelled angrily. "DID YOU SERIOUSLY THINK YOU CAN-WAIT, WHY ARE YOUR FEET ON FIRE?!" He pulled out a Poke Ball and threw to the ground. A flash of light later, a blue catlike Pokemon with large ears and a white frill around its neck appeared beside Randy. "Va?" The Pokemon blinked, staring at me with confusion.

"Neptu, use Hydro Pump on him!" The Pokemon nodded, and an orb of water formed in front of its mouth, glowing with energy.

"No, wait! Hold on! That's not necessary! I can just-mmmmmphhhhhh!" I was cut off as a torrent of water slammed into me, sending me flying backwards across the grass. When I eventually stopped, I was sprawled across the ground about thirty feet away, facedown on the ground, soaking wet. I looked up at my brother, who grinned at me.

"Um, you all right?" He asked.

I groaned and let my head fall onto the ground. So far, I had failed to catch a shiny Axew, didn't notice my team hanging out at the Day Care, got a bloody nose courtesy of my Pokemon, got bitten by a bunch of fish, shocked by my rebellious Mareep, and nearly drowned by my brother. And all of this had happened before noon.

This day was officially the worst day of my life.


	13. Brothers

**Disclaimer: Got a Nintendo 3DS for my birthday! But I didn't get Pokemon, which I don't own.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long update. Life and work have been keeping me busy, and I have some other stories that people want me to update (hint, hint, the Superior Rewrite.) But seriously, I've been a bit busy, and I'm sorry for not updating. This is my first fanfic, and I haven't even been updating it like I should. I'll try to update sooner, I promise.**

**And now…on to the story.**

* * *

Randy shook his head as he bit into a loaf of bread. "You," he said, pointing a finger at me, "have got some of the weirdest luck I've ever seen."

We were sitting just outside of Wellspring Cave, eating some food that Randy brought along for his trip. Randy had decided to bring out his entire Pokemon team so they could interact with my Pokemon, so we were basically surrounded by super-tough Pokemon that had beaten every Gym Leader in the Pokemon League.

I wasn't too concerned. Compared to how awesome my team would be when we beat the Champion, these guys looked a little wimpy.

My Pokemon, on the other hand, were a bit more worried about the newcomers. Bubble was still staring at Z like he was the Grim Reaper, Hope was looking timidly at a giant purple bat - Randy said it was a Crobat - who was flying around and glaring around like she was paid to do it. Randy had apparently named it Executioner. When I asked him why, he said, "She likes to kill mosquitoes. Like, she seriously has an obsession with it. It's a little scary sometimes."

And George…was sort of in his own world, looking inside Neptu's ears - Randy told me that she was a Vaporeon - and smelling her frill, all while she was looking at him out of the corner of her eye. She looked kind of mad, but also kind of confused, like she didn't know how to react to a purple monkey looking in her ears.

Well, that kind of made sense, to be honest.

"Seriously," Randy continued. "I'm just going to point out how ridiculous it is. First, you beat all three of the gym brothers in your first battle, with a Pokemon that won't listen to you, and a Pokemon that you had literally gotten ten minutes before the match." He counted off one finger. "Then, you managed to make me pay for _your _food-"

"How is that lucky?" I asked, looking up from my sandwich. "You're my brother! Why wouldn't you pay for my food?"

"Because you need to pay for your own stuff." Randy replied, not missing a beat. "Second-"

"Wait a minute." I frowned. "Weren't the gym leaders supposed to give me money after I beat them?"

"Usually, yeah." Randy grinned. "But since you had forgotten to pay for those hot dogs you and Bubble ate before I got there, they decided to just keep the money for compensation."

"Oh." I blinked, then sheepishly returned my gaze to my sandwich. "I forgot about that."

"Anyways," Randy continued. "Today, I got a new jacket for you - which you've trashed, I might add-"

"That was Hope's fault!" I yelled. "Don't hurt me," I added, holding my hands up as sparks flew from her wool. She glared at me, electricity sparking across her wool, but didn't try to shock me. I'm counting that as a major improvement in our friendship…or whatever getting shocked on a regular basis is called.

"You let her shock you." Randy pointed out. "But before you start arguing," He cut me off as I opened my mouth in protest. "Let me finish talking about your weird luck. You got a new jacket, and a bunch of supplies for your journey. Then you got a bloody nose. You went into the forest, and lost two of your Pokemon. But you found a _shiny _Axew, but couldn't catch it because Z stole all your Poke Balls." He snorted. "I still think that's hilarious, by the way."

"I don't," I grumbled. "And you wouldn't, if the same thing happened to you."

"True," He conceded, then continued with his evaluation of my luck. "Next, you pissed off the parents of the shiny Axew - who were also shiny - and set half the forest on fire trying to kill you before getting bored. Then, you find your missing Pokemon, who were chilling at the Day Care Center the entire time. And finally, you tried to run away from me, got shocked by your rebellious Mareep-" Hope gave a proud "Mar!" at that. "-got bitten by at least a dozen Basculin, got shocked again, and then got completely soaked by my Neptu." He bit into his sandwich, and a small pause ensued in our conversation. Randy swallowed, and finished his tirade. "With your luck, you could either stomp the Champion the first time you face him, or get completely owned by a random trainer in Victory Road."

"Thanks," I said dryly. "I really needed that."

"No problem," Randy said, ignoring my sarcasm. "By the way, you should tell George he should get off Demolisher. He doesn't like monkeys."

I looked over for George, and froze. He was currently sitting on top of a Pokemon that would make a Haxorus cry for its mom. It was huge, about as wide as half my house, and had four giant legs with spikes on the bottom of each. It had an X-shaped…moustache-eyebrow thing in the middle of its face, while red eyes gleamed from underneath it. It was currently looking with barely restrained annoyance at my Aipom, who had decided to take a nap on top of it for some reason. It didn't look comfortable to me, considering it was made completely of metal. Unless it was somehow softer than it looked, which I kinda doubted, considering it was probably a Steel-type, and Steel-types usually aren't-

Why do I always think about such random stuff?!

I shook my head as I got up and walked over to the living tank, carefully lifting George off Demolisher. I also confirmed that this thing definitely wasn't softer than it looked. Just bumping it with my knuckles left some bruises. Either it was really hard, or I was just a wimp. I'm pretty sure it's just really hard, since I obviously wasn't a wimp.

"What kind of Pokemon is Demolisher?" I asked, sitting back in my spot again. George murmured in his sleep and curled in my lap, resting his head on my leg.

"Metagross," My brother replied, returning the food to his backpack. "Steel-Psychic, if you're wondering about the type."

I looked over at the metal Pokemon, surprised. How could a tank like that be a Psychic type?

"All right," Randy said, standing up. He returned all of his Pokemon to his Poke Balls, and then helped me to my feet. George gave an annoyed "Ai." when I woke him up from his sleep, curled on the ground, and immediately fell asleep again. "You've had a nice break. Now go to Nacrene City, and challenge Lenora. Hopefully, you don't get owned."

"Isn't she the gym leader with the Normal-type Pokemon?" I asked, returning Hope and George to their Poke Balls. Bubble floated by my head, looking ridiculously happy. "I shouldn't have a problem with a Normal-type gym."

"Don't be so cocky," Randy warned, crossing his arms. "She stomped me the first two times I battled her. I only won because I decided I actually needed a Fighting-type Pokemon to win against her."

I blinked. Randy got stomped by Lenora? My brother's one of the best Trainers that Unova's ever had. Maybe I should watch out for this gym leader.

Then I shook myself out of it. It was just a Normal-type gym. I could take it. "Ah, don't worry about it," I told Randy confidently. "Me and my awesome team will beat it first try, no damage."

"Sol!" Bubble said happily, spinning happily above my head.

Randy raised an eyebrow. "Okay then," He said dryly. "You just keep being 'awesome' and win. I'm going to visit everyone at home. Seeya." He started to walk away.

"Wait, you're just going to leave?!" I stared at him. He couldn't just leave! I was his brother! He needed to help me!

My brother stopped and looked at me, rolling his eyes. "Relax. I'll check on you every once in a while. But contrary to what you think, I actually have a life. And besides, I need to visit some friends." Randy laughed at my stunned expression. "Don't worry! You'll be fine. You don't need me to babysit you, do you?"

"Of course not!" I protested angrily.

"Then don't worry about it." Randy grinned. "Just enjoy your journey. And besides, your friends are going to go on their journeys too, right? You'll have them to keep you company. And don't forget your Pokemon," he added, nodding at Bubble.

I glanced at my starter, and then at the Poke Balls on my belt. He had a point about my Pokemon keeping me company, even if one of them refused to listen to me and liked to shock me every other minute. And besides, Pete and Gwen would eventually catch up to me, even if I started a little earlier than they did. But I didn't want my brother to leave. As much as I hated to admit it, I really missed him when he was out in the other regions. Even though we've hung out for about two days, I kinda didn't want him to leave again so soon.

"Hey." Randy was now facing me completely. "You may have delusions of massive awesomeness, but I know you're gonna be a great Trainer. You can take on the Champion."

I flushed at the sudden support. "R-really?"

"Yeah. But, just to let you know, once you become Champion, I'm going to have to beat you along with all the other region's Champion." He smirked.

"You-oh, yeah, right." I snorted. "Please. When I beat the Champion, my team will be strong enough to wipe the floor with your team."

Randy laughed. "Good luck with that." He smiled, and waved. "Seeya, little bro." And then he was gone.

I stood there for a couple seconds, looking at the spot where Randy had disappeared. He trusted me to do this. I could do this. I could win this.

"C'mon, Bubble." I said to my starter, grinning. "We've got awesome stuff to do."

"Solo!" Bubble cried happily, hugging my face. Fortunately, I was expecting that, and managed to not fall over this time.

I pried him off my face with a laugh. "Hey, wanna race to Nacrene City?" I asked. "Last one there gets a pooping Pidove.

I swear, as soon as I said 'pooping Pidove,' he immediately sped off, going about twenty feet per second. "SOOLLLLL!" He yelled, zipping away.

"Bubble! Stop! You're going the wrong way!" I yelled, sprinting after him.

Well, this was going to work out fantastically.

* * *

**And that's the end of that chapter. I'm sort of just trying to get back into this story, so hence why not much happens here. Hope you still liked it.**

**And also, if it's not too much to ask, could you please leave a review? I just feel really encouraged by reviews, and this story doesn't have too many of them. So just please let me know your thoughts, because I'd truly appreciate it. Thanks!**


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